RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: National Institute of Banking and Finance-Pakistan (NIBAF Pakistan) and Risk Associates have formalised a landmark partnership on Saturday through signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity and compliance readiness of the financial sector in Pakistan.

The signing ceremony was held at the Risk Associates regional office in Karachi.

The agreement was signed by Lubna Farooq Malik, Co-CEO of NIBAF-Pakistan and Dr Aftab Rizvi, CEO of Risk Associates, in the presence of senior leadership from both organisations.

The MoU establishes a strategic framework through which both institutions will collaborate to develop and deliver advanced training programs, advisory services, and capacity-building initiatives focused on cyber risk, governance, digital forensics, and compliance with international standards including PCI DSS and ISO/ IEC 27001.

Lubna Malik while emphasizing the critical significance of cyber risk for the financial industry observed that the financial industry stands at the forefront of profound digital transformation and, consequently, must also be at the very forefront of protecting itself.

In this context, she highlighted that the collaboration between NIBAF and Risk Associates would benefit industry professionals, especially in the banking sector, by enhancing their cybersecurity skills and knowledge through capacity building.

Dr Aftab Rizvi: “Together with NIBAF-Pakistan, we are delivering forward-looking training that empowers banking professionals to anticipate, adapt, and respond to dynamic threats with operational precision and confidence.”