Whistleblowing: Practical Obligations and Dilemmas

Join Robert Walters, together with Capital Advantage, for an insightful panel discussion where we approached whistleblowing from different perspectives of risk, compliance and corporate governance and covered some of the main concerns for a potential whistleblower, with the aim to protect and improve how companies design and manage their whistleblowing policies and procedures.

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION:

Ethical concerns and risks for the companies and the whistleblowers. Is it an obligation or a profession?
Implementation of the whistleblowing policy and procedures and the regulatory requirements
Can Whistleblowing reduce corporate crime and increase good governance? The concerns of the C-suite

The discussion is led by Aidan O’Mahony, Senior Consultant - Banking and Financial Services at Robert Walters Middle East, and moderated by Sharon Ditchburn, Founder and Managing Director at Capital Advantage.

EXPERT PANELLISTS:

Afroditi Boura, Senior Compliance Manager and Senior Risk Manager at Capital Advantage
Syed Farooq Shah, Senior Compliance/MLRO at Capital Advantage
Andrew Robinson, Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Chairman and consultant based in the United Arab Emirates

Afroditi Boura

Senior Compliance Manager and Senior Risk Manager
Capital Advantage

Afroditi Boura is a member of the Association of Professionals of Regulatory Compliance of Greece, a member of the Economic Chamber of Greece, and a Certified Compliance and Risk Manager from the EU. Afroditi holds a BA from University of Piraeus in Greece and certification for ISO31000:2018 as Risk Professional and as Trainer.

Afroditi has been registered as an Authorised Individual by the DFSA since 2017 and by the CMA in Kuwait since 2019 and has worked with a broad range of regulated entities in the Middle East and Europe including insurance and reinsurance, healthcare, oil and energy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, wholesale, brokerages, financial institutions, construction, telecommunication, and automobile.

Afroditi also has wide experience at senior management level with government-owned enterprises in the GCC and Europe.

Syed Farooq Shah

Senior Compliance/MLRO
Capital Advantage

Farooq is a compliance professional with an MPA degree specializing in Public Finance and Project Management, as well as an MBA and Bs. Honours Degree in Information Technology with specialization in MIS & Database. Farooq is a member of International Institute of Certification for ISO (IIC) and member of GCC Board of Directors Institute UAE.

Farooq is experienced in working with Commercial Banks, Investment Banks, Currency Exchange Houses, Asset Managers, Public Funds, Fintech, Real Estate, and Money Services Providers in both retail and wholesale environments, dealing at all levels including with board executives and audit committees. His wider experience includes managing relations with the Regulators including CBUAE, SCA, FSA, FSRA, CBUAE Treasury, DMCCA, and DFSA, as well as advising on Governance Risk, Conduct Risk, Financial Crime, Regulatory Permissions and Authorisation, Regulatory Risk and Correspondent Banking Risks. Farooq has worked both as an outside consultant as well as taking interim positions in firms when required. He is experienced in working as a controlled function or nominated officer.

Farooq has been registered as an Authorised Individual by the DFSA since 2011, FSRA since 2019, and CBUAE for firms across a broad spectrum and complexity of licences, including non-deposit taking credit institutions, fund and asset managers and advisory clients. Farooq is advising clients on the requirements to set up a FinTech business in both the DIFC and the ADGM, help to prepare them for meetings with the relevant regulator, and assist them with the development of their compliance framework.

Andrew Robinson

Non-Executive Director,
Audit Committee Chairman and
Consultant - United Arab Emirates

Andrew Robinson is a Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Chairman and consultant based in the United Arab Emirates, with clients including public companies, financial firms and family groups. He is a UK qualified accountant (FCA) and treasurer (AMCT) and presents training courses on Mergers and Acquisitions, Business Valuation and Corporate Sustainability. He arrived in the Middle East in 1989 and completed a 30-year career with KPMG when Andrew took early retirement as an equity partner in 2014. As an audit partner Andrew has a proven ability to lead teams and coach individuals and also present issues at the top table.

Moderator - Sharon Ditchburn

Managing Director
Capital Advantage

Sharon Ditchburn is the Founder and Managing Director of Capital Advantage, a Governance Risk and Compliance advisory firm based in the UAE since 2004. She is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, The UK Chartered Governance Institute and CPA Australia, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a lawyer and accountant with an MBA specialising in Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship and Strategy. She is a member of the ESG Committee for CPA Australia’s Centre of Excellence, and is on the Independent Oversight Committees for several public funds. She is one of the few individuals in the GCC certified by the IFC/World Bank to deliver their Director Development Programmes, and has been delivering Governance Risk and Compliance advisory and training programmes since 2005 in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for Institutes of Directors, Corporate Governance and Sustainability. Sharon has worked with the full range of listed, private and government owned enterprises, stock exchanges and financial institutions. She has been registered as an Authorised Individual by the DFSA with over 30 companies since 2007.

Host - Aidan O'Mahony

Senior Consultant
Robert Walters

Aidan is a Business Studies graduate from Bournemouth University, he started his career in recruitment straight from university, joining and then going on to lead a Financial Services Compliance desk in London for 4 years. He has come to know his market extensively and dealt and placed with project managers through to a number of C-Suite level clients across the UK. His speciality has come in the placement of large scale operational redress and remediation programmes at a number of top tier UK banks, notably in the area of KYC/CDD where Aidan has single handed resourced and screened programmes of up to 80 Consultants onsite through a Managed Service. Outside of this he has supported a number of largescale Financial Crime change projects at the majority of UK and single placement roles ranging from Head of Compliance to Analyst level. Aidan is best positioned to ensure your organisation has the personnel required to ensure your regulatory commitments are adhered to in an ever changing landscape.

Whistleblowing: Practical Obligations and Dilemmas

Share this article

Global Get In Touch

Afroditi Boura

Syed Farooq Shah

Andrew Robinson

Moderator - Sharon Ditchburn

Host - Aidan O'Mahony

I'm Robert Walters Are you?