Everywhere with Ibtissem | في كل مكان مع ابتسام

Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation carries a clear expectation: companies must match their commercial ambition with discipline in how they operate, and how they respond when things go wrong.

An allegation of bribery, corruption or financial misconduct can quickly move beyond an internal HR or disciplinary process. How it is handled from the outset can determine the company’s legal exposure, the credibility of its findings and the consequences for its leadership.

NAZAHA scrutiny puts the response itself under scrutiny: what the company knew, when it acted and whether its investigation can withstand challenge.

Speed matters. So do evidence preservation, independence, rigour and the judgement to know when to escalate. A rushed investigation can compound the very risk it was intended to address.

In Episode 6 of Everywhere with Ibtissem (في كل مكان مع ابتسام), Ibtissem Lassoued, Partner and Head of White-Collar Crime Advisory (Compliance, Investigations & International Cooperation), examines the practical reality of internal investigations in Saudi Arabia, and the decisions that boards and management need to get right from the first allegation.

The first decisions can shape the entire investigation, and the company’s exposure.

Morocco’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list was a significant milestone, but delisting was not the finish line.

As the country prepares for its next FATF mutual evaluation, the focus is shifting from demonstrating compliance to proving that its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework is delivering effective and sustainable results in practice.

In Episode 5 of Everywhere with Ibtissem, Ibtissem Lassoued examines:

The bar has moved. Having compliant AML/CFT policies and frameworks is the baseline, not the benchmark. What evaluators, and increasingly the market, will be looking for is evidence that those frameworks translate into effective action and measurable outcomes.

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FRANÇAIS

La sortie du Maroc de la liste grise du Groupe d’action financière (GAFI) a constitué une étape importante, mais cette sortie de la liste grise ne représentait pas la ligne d’arrivée.

Alors que le pays se prépare à sa prochaine évaluation mutuelle du GAFI, l’attention se porte désormais sur le passage de la démonstration de la conformité à la preuve que son dispositif de lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux et le financement du terrorisme (LBC/FT) produit, en pratique, des résultats efficaces et durables.

Dans l’épisode 5 de Everywhere with Ibtissem, Ibtissem Lassoued examine :

Le niveau d’exigence a évolué. Disposer de politiques et de dispositifs de LBC/FT conformes constitue le socle, et non la référence ultime. Ce que les évaluateurs, et de plus en plus le marché, rechercheront, ce sont des éléments démontrant que ces dispositifs se traduisent par des actions efficaces et des résultats mesurables.

Phishing scams have evolved well beyond spam emails and suspicious links. Today's attacks are calculated, multi-layered, and devastatingly effective, with news reports and statistical data attributing over double digit billion dollars in global losses over the past decade to phishing-driven schemes alone. From business email compromise and CEO impersonation to invoice fraud and deepfake voice calls, these scams exploit the one vulnerability no firewall can fix: human judgement under pressure.

In Episode 4 of Everywhere with Ibtissem, our Partner, Ibtissem Lassoued unpacks how modern phishing scams are bypassing even the most sophisticated security controls, how threat actors are infiltrating corporate email environments, impersonating senior executives, and manipulating payment workflows, particularly in high-velocity commercial hubs where urgency and relationship-driven decision-making create fertile ground for exploitation, and what organisations must rethink before they become the next case study.

Supply chains are no longer just operational ecosystems. They have become exposure points for fraud, corruption, regulatory breaches and hidden financial risk.

Behind every primary supplier lies a network of subcontractors, intermediaries and third parties that businesses often do not fully see, monitor or control. In the fast-moving markets of the MENA region, that complexity can become the perfect camouflage for misconduct. It often begins quietly: an inflated invoice, an undisclosed intermediary, or payments structured to avoid scrutiny. Eighteen months later, what appeared to be a minor irregularity can evolve into a significant regulatory, financial and reputational issue.

In Episode 3 of “Everywhere with Ibtissem”, Ibtissem Lassoued examines how supply chain fraud has evolved into increasingly sophisticated and data-driven schemes, and why boards, compliance teams and management can no longer afford to treat supply chain risk as a purely operational matter.

Is a Red Notice an international arrest warrant? (Hint: No.)

In this episode of Everywhere with Ibtissem, legal expert Ibtissem Lassoued explores the high-stakes world of international law enforcement. From the moment an alert is issued to the complex "dual criminality" checks of formal extradition, we break down how countries cooperate and where they clash.

 In this episode, we dive into:

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Connect with Ibtissem: https://www.tamimi.com/find-a-lawyer/ibtissem-lassoued/

Traditional approaches are no longer keeping pace with the realities of sanctions, geopolitical fragmentation and increasingly sophisticated financial crime.

In this episode, Ibtissem Lassoued, explores how these forces are converging, reshaping exposure across global trade, cross-border operations and regulatory expectations.

The challenge is no longer just compliance. It is understanding where risk is really coming from, and how quickly it is evolving.

Whether you are overseeing international investigations or navigating complex compliance environments, this conversation offers a clearer framework for building resilience in a more volatile landscape.