Shawki Ahwash, CAMS, CGSS

Shawki is a former banker with 20+ years of experience spanning multiple areas like cross-border payments and investigations, trade finance, customer onboarding and KYC operations, correspondent banking, and last but not least AML/CFT & sanctions. In his compliance function, Shawki assumed the role of Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and head of sanctions division for 10 years within Lebanese banking sector.

In parallel, Shawki is a university lecturer, speaker, and trainer at: Union of Arab Banks (UAB), ACAMS, Romanian Banking Institute (RBI-Bucharest), OECD/Paris, Governance Dynamics (UAE), Emirates Institute of Finance (EIF-UAE), Pronumeris Training Center-Mauritius, and other institutions tasked with countering money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, & proliferation finance.

Moreover, he is adjunct trainer at PwC’s academy Middle East in Dubai & has been contracted as subject matter expert with other big 4 consultancy firms in London and KSA to render AFC services in different aspects. Shawki is Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS) from ACAMS. He is also an ACAMS faculty member accredited and authorized to deliver CAMS & CGSS training in Arabic and English languages.

Among his other certifications, Shawki holds Combating Financial Crime (CFC) certificate from Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI)-UK. On the academic level, he holds a Master’s degree from American University of Beirut (AUB) in Public Administration.

As a seasoned trainer, Shawki has designed and delivered a diverse array of training programs addressing sanctions, fraud, AML/CFT and 3rd party risks, proliferation finance, TBML, ABC-Anti-Bribery & Corruption, and other GRC themes across the MENA/GCC and Europe. Shawki conducts AML/CFT consultancy reviews and audits for financial institutions within the region helping them identify compliance threats, enhance their internal control environment, and meet regulatory requirements.