Palestine Monetary Authority Kicks off a Palestinian Banking Sector mission in the United States of America

Ramallah, Washington: Mr. Azzam Shawwa Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) is heading a delegation comprised of General Managers of several Banks operating in Palestine along with senior executives from the PMA on a mission to the United States of America to create greater awareness about the Palestinian banking sector. The mission aims to further nurture US –Palestinian banking relations in addition to strengthening knowledge of key US stakeholders about the overall soundness, stability and independence of the Palestinian banking sector. The Delegation commenced the mission June 13th in the US Capital, Washington DC, with meetings with senior Administration officials from the White House, State Department, the US Treasury, senior ranking members of the Senate and Congress, in addition to key executives from the World Bank Group and IMF.

Meetings were an opportunity to present the important milestones and significant achievements of the Palestinian banking and financial Sector and the PMA in spite of adversities. Discussions also delved into the overall stability of the sector given the strict compliance with international banking and financial standards; foremost of which are the Basel Standards and the International Financial Action Task Force in the realm of Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism laws.

The delegation received praise for the critical role played by the PMA in stabilizing and modernizing the banking sector enabling the sector to play a leading role in economic nation building. The fact the PMA has started providing technical assistance to regional countries was seen as a testament to its readiness to be transformed into the central bank of Palestine. The Governor on behalf of the sector representatives thanked both the US government and the IMF and World Bank Group for the sustained financial and technical assistance to the PMA enabling it to improve the overall regulatory environment for banks. The Governor alluded to the fact these efforts enhanced the soundness of the banking sector enabling the PMA to be close to assuming its full role as a central bank. The Governor also recognized local support by Palestine official entities, particularly, the passage of the legislative framework for the Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating Financing of Terrorism Laws was enacted and signed into law by the President last December.

This Mission to the US to create awareness of the Palestine Banking Sector is a continuation of the awareness campaign commenced by the PMA several months ago in several Arab and regional countries, by visiting several central banks in Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and Holland. The PMA plans to continue this mission into the latter part of the year to include Europe and Latin America.