• Emirates NBD enters strategic regulatory technology (RegTech) partnership with Silent Eight to enhance financial crime controls
• Silent Eight’s innovative AI-based platform automates financial transaction screening investigations
• Partnership integrates Emirates NBD’s robust compliance program with the pioneering provider in the industry

Dubai, UAE, 1 February 2024: Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region, announced a strategic partnership with Silent Eight, a technology company which offers an advanced AI and machine learning platform to identify and prevent financial crime.

The partnership is in line with Emirates NBD’s vision to be the most innovative bank for its customers, people, and communities, and follows a successful Proof of Value (PoV) engagement that demonstrated Silent Eight’s ability to automate the alert screening investigation process and improve the efficiency, accuracy and auditability of the bank’s compliance operations.

In collaboration with Emirates NBD’s FinTech Partnership and Engagement Team, the PoV involved testing Silent Eight’s solution on alerts generated by the bank’s screening system.  The solution uses natural language processing and machine learning to replicate human reasoning and decision-making based on historical alert data and continuous learning. The solution was able to solve close to a third of the alerts in the scope of the PoV, explain the resolutions with clear narratives, and close the alerts with zero error rates.

Based on the successful results of the PoV, Emirates NBD has decided to deploy the Silent Eight solution with the aim of reducing reliance on human investigators, lowering operational costs, and enhancing the customer experience by minimising the delays and requests for information caused by false positive alerts.

Following significant innovation in digital banking, wealth management, remittances and payments, Emirates NBD is further championing digital operational transformation by incorporating AI technology into its robust compliance program. The move strengthens Emirates NBD’s commitment to align with the UAE’s increased focus on the supervision and enforcement of anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and targeted financial sanctions regimes.

Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer at Emirates NBD, said: “We are thrilled to join forces with Silent Eight to improve our operational efficiencies and foster innovation. As a regional banking leader, Emirates NBD is setting a new standard of excellence in providing a safe and secure banking experience for our customers. This collaboration is a testament to Emirates NBD’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge technologies and pushing boundaries to deliver agility and optimise productivity.”

Victor Matafonov, Group Chief Compliance Officer at Emirates NBD, said: “We are delighted to partner with Silent Eight, a leading innovator in the field of AI-driven compliance solutions. This partnership aligns with our vision of becoming a digital leader in the region and our commitment to adopting world-class technologies that enhance our risk management capabilities and operational efficiency. We are confident that Silent Eight’s IRIS module will bring significant value to our compliance function and enable us to deliver faster and better service to our customers.”

Martin Markiewicz, Chief Executive Officer at Silent Eight, said: “We are honoured to work with Emirates NBD, one of the most progressive and forward-thinking banks in the MENAT region.”

Ben Rayner, Senior Vice President at Silent Eight, said: ” We are delighted to be working with Emirates NBD, and are impressed by their dedication to excellence and innovation in compliance and their willingness to embrace AI as a strategic enabler. We look forward to supporting them in their journey of transforming their alert screening process and achieving their compliance goals.”

The collaboration between Emirates NBD and Silent Eight solidifies Emirates NBD’s commitment to safe banking through innovative and transformative advancements within the financial industry. In 2023, Emirates NBD leveraged the power of generative AI to drive significant advancements in software development, collaboration and customer engagement.