Fresh from the IFCA’s first International Compliance Congress, Sofia El Mansouri offers an overview of the event’s theme and select highlights from the past week.
A successful five-day event came to a close as the International Federation of Compliance Associations (IFCA) ended its first International Compliance Congress on November 20, 2020. As one of the world’s top ethics and compliance-related events, the Congress attracted over 600 E&C practitioners from 12 countries and transcended borders by connecting five continents through compliance.
This year’s theme, “Compliance 2030,” brought to light insights and best practices to prepare for the compliance programs of tomorrow through topics like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and the transformation of compliance.
The congress featured over 20 sessions with a variety of dynamic presentations, interviews and panel discussions following five key themes:
- Leadership – Transforming compliance
- Chief Compliance Officer – The role
- Digitalization – The use of technology
- Sustainability – The long-term business view
- Key Compliance Areas in 2030
As most events did this year, the congress went virtual to enable attendees to attend remotely despite travel restrictions. The virtual facet of the platform did not diminish in any way its interactivity, nor its livestream production. The event platform enabled delegates to connect with each other and directly ask questions to the speakers. For those unable to attend the early-hour sessions due to time differences, a recorded broadcast of the sessions was conveniently replayed at different timings. The event also kept the attendees excited with a popular roundup of fun and interactive competitions and prizes announced at the end of each day.
Despite the challenges posed by 2020, the IFCA’s first International Congress positively connected international delegates and encouraged dialogue between distant regions who normally would not get a chance to communicate and exchange best practices with one another. Among this year’s noteworthy presentations, “Influence of business ethics on the anti-corruption environment” left the E&C practitioner with unique recommendations for setting up a successful ethics and compliance program in particularly challenging markets.
The Congress returns in 2021, and we can’t wait to see what it has in store for us next year.
Sofia El Mansouri, Group Legal & Compliance Manager, has over 11 years of aviation, airlines, defense & automotive industry experience and specializes in setting up ethics and trade compliance programs for national and U.S. companies operating in the Middle East.
She is responsible for the internal compliance and ethics programs of Jetex Executive Aviation & Jetex Flight Support (“Jetex”) and its affiliated subsidiaries in 30 international markets.
Prior to joining Jetex, Sofia was a Legal Officer at Etihad Airways & the Etihad Aviation Group, specialized in governance and corporate structuring; she also served as the Legal & Trade Compliance Officer for the Tawazun Group, which develops ventures across a number of areas: defense and aerospace, automotive, munitions, metals and technology.
Sofia received a bachelor's degree in Legal Studies from the University of Central Florida and is a Certified Fraud Examiner. 
