ASAR participates in Thomson Reuters’ first GRC forum in Kuwait
Kuwait, 7th May, 2013: ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners (ASAR), Kuwait’s leading and most prominent corporate law firm, and one of the region’s top tier firms recently participated in Thomson Reuters’ first Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Forum in Kuwait. The forum was held on May 6th, 2013, and was organized by Thomson Reuters, a leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.
The forum has been designed to empower audit, risk and compliance professionals, business leaders, and the boards they serve to reliably achieve business objectives, address uncertainty, and act with integrity. Mr. Hossam Abdullah and Mr. Ezekiel Tuma, Partners at ASAR respectively participated in panels covering anti money laundering and board effectiveness. Mr. Abdullah discussed Kuwait’s anti money laundering laws with specific reference to banks and financial institutions as compared to Basel recommendations and highlights of the main features of the anti money laundering bill, while Mr. Tuma covered recent corporate governance developments relevant to the effectiveness of boards of directors including clarifying their roles and responsibilities and conflicts of interest.
Mr. Hossam Abdullah said: “The practice of governance, risk and compliance is not only an effective strategy for enterprise control but also an ethical obligation and an opportunity for corporate growth. An effective risk management structure can enable businesses to take advantage of robust market opportunities. Compliance is essential for establishing new businesses both internationally and domestically, expansion accordingly is a natural progression. Only with a coordinated and integrated process, companies can expand while minimizing liabilities.”
Mr. Ezekiel Tuma further noted: “The governance, risk and compliance (GRC) landscape continues to evolve with added layers of complexity and demands that challenge even the most seasoned executives. Practitioners are being constantly challenged on many fronts ranging from mounting regulatory requirements, outdated policies and procedures, strained resources, increasing costs and budgets. These issues, along with the demand for board and executive accountability, have sparked an urgent push for organizations to integrate and streamline their overall GRC processes and practices..”
With dedicated offices in Kuwait and Bahrain coupled with its associated offices and relationships, ASAR provides clients across an extensive range of industry sectors with comprehensive legal advice and support for their business activities in Kuwait, across the GCC and beyond.
The firm has been consistently rated as the leading corporate and commercial law firm in Kuwait by reputable legal guides such as the Chambers Global Guide, International Financial Law Review and the Legal 500. In 2012, ASAR was named as the “Best Law Firm in Kuwait 2012” by the International Financial Law Review (IFLR), the market-leading guide for financial law firms worldwide. The firm also won the “Best Equity Deal in the Middle East” award by IFLR during the same year.
