The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday November 19, 2020 the 15th Online Market Participant User Group (MPUG) Workshop (the twentieth in a series of communication workshops with banks). This event comes as part of the AMF ongoing series of insightful workshops to support the business development of “Buna”- the first cross-border payment platform in the Arab Region launched by the AMF earlier this year- and update participants on the latest activities related to this unique payment system, and the establishment of its network of onboarded banks and currencies inclusion.
The 15th online workshop will be attended by senior officials representing more than 200 banks operating in The Arab region and beyond with interest to join “Buna’s” platform. The workshop is an additional virtual event in a series of continuous interactive dialogues organized by the AMF and Buna, to shed the light on strategic developments and matters of interest to the Arab and foreign banks operating in the region.
During the workshop Buna’s top managers will share their views and updates on the platform recent news and market progress. The speakers will explore a series of key topics related to Buna’s activities and future road map, such as the onboarding process, currencies inclusion and compliance standards, the seamless and secure flow of cross-border payments, Buna’s high-level technology architecture as well as its ongoing efforts to secure and comply with international standards of infosec and data privacy
On this occasion, His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, recapped on Buna’s commitment to achieve its strategic objectives and goals. His Excellency referred as well to the recent success of Buna in launching the settlement operations in the Egyptian pound, thanks to the fruitful cooperation between the Central Bank of Egypt and the Arab Monetary Fund, making the EGP the second Arab settlement currency on the platform following the UAE Dirham. His Excellency also drew attention to the importance of the recent measures implemented by the AMF to implement high level compliance and due diligence methodologies in Buna, thus enhancing the platform's ability to examine and audit millions of transactions every month. Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy praised the Market Participant User Group (MPUG) Workshop’s success in maintaining its momentum and attract a growing number of participants from regional and international financial institutions. Last, His Excellency reiterated his sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Governors of the Arab Central Banks for their continuous support in ensuring the success of Buna.
Buna, The Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization is a centralized clearing and settlement payment platform owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, aiming to enable financial institutions and central banks in the Arab region to send and receive cross-border payments in local currencies as well as key international currencies in a safe, cost- effective, risk-controlled and transparent environment. Buna offers participants modern payment solutions that comply with international standards, principles, and international compliance requirements. The platform contributes to exploring and strengthening opportunities for economic and financial integration in the Arab region and supporting investment ties with the global trading partners of Arab countries. The platform welcomes the inclusion of all banks that meet the criteria and conditions for participation, primarily the standards and procedures of compliance aspects.
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