April 3, 2013 - Soneri Bank Limited, one of Pakistan's leading commercial banking institutions, is establishing a high-performance risk framework with software from business analytics leader SAS to better manage enterprise risk and strengthen fraud detection.
Soneri Bank will use SAS Anti-Money Laundering and SAS Credit Risk Management for Banking to improve profitability, help meet Basel II requirements, boost ratings, lower finance costs, and combat money laundering.
"We chose SAS for its proven expertise, its major presence within more than 3,400 financial institutions worldwide, and its local reputation for delivering highly customized solutions," said Haider Devjianie, CIO of Soneri Bank. "Soneri Bank has ably positioned itself as a strong and growing bank. Using SAS, we have not only reinforced our operations but are now addressing key challenges, including internal data structure requirements. SAS gives us a big advantage by being uniquely flexible."
To better manage risk reporting and create timely cash leakage reports, Soneri will harness SAS' cutting-edge analytics, sophisticated data management and reporting. Soneri Bank has integrated SAS for Enterprise Risk Management into procedures, which had previously been separated from the business lines, to lower its risk profile for Basel II. Alongside meeting Basel II requirements, the bank is looking into ways to increase the business benefits of a comprehensive risk strategy.
"Choosing SAS underscores Soneri Bank's strong commitment toward adapting to emerging trends and technologies in the financial segment," said Amin Feerasta, Country Credit Head of Soneri Bank. "With the help of SAS, we will achieve our vision of becoming a leading financial institution within the region and help fulfill the promise of meeting banking customer needs."
With financial crimes growing every day, financial institutions and their boards are under increased regulatory scrutiny to ensure proper policies, controls and procedures. SAS Anti-Money Laundering automates the process of detecting, investigating and reporting on irregularities. The system's cross-channel view of financial fraud risk speeds the investigative process and identifies unknown relationships. The solution analyzes transactional activity to spot anomalies that go undetected by manual review. The system's advanced scoring and prioritization focus analysts on the most relevant financial risks, reducing wasted resources spent on false positives and helping institutions like Soneri Bank adapt quickly to new money risks as they emerge.
