It has served to highlight the anomaly between, on the one hand, the institutional framework governing monetary policy in the region, which is centralised in the ECB, and, on the other hand, the framework governing financial sector supervision, which is largely decentralised. The signing earlier this year of a Memorandum of Understanding on co-operation in the area of crisis management between the supervisory authorities and the central banks of the 15 Member States has underlined the links between these two functions even more. Now some might conclude that if it has been possible to devise a mechanism for crisis management in the EU without the need to create a supranational supervisory body, it should be equally possible to develop a similar co-operative arrangement for crisis prevention. On the other hand, it could also be argued that, not having had the experience of a financial crisis in the region, it is still too early to say whether such an arrangement would work in practice. This topical issue relating to the pros and cons of the unification of supervisory structures at the EU level will be addressed by Dr Gruenbichler. Accession countries have a special interest in this matter, not only because their central banks and supervisory authorities will be invited to sign this accord, but because they will in time also have to adhere to whatever institutional arrangements are adopted by the EU in this area. Conclusion The issues being discussed during this seminar are wide-ranging indeed.

While the financial sector has, over the years, strengthened its risk management and control functions to combat financial crimes, a higher degree of emphasis and attention by senior management and the Board, on issues relating to AML/CFT, can further improve the standards of compliance and the effectiveness of measures put in place to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. We also observed that financial institutions exhibiting effective defences against financial crimes shared four common attributes in their AML/CFT framework. These are: (i) well developed and clearly articulated policies and procedures; (ii) effective governance structure, particularly on the compliance function; (iii) incorporation of AML/CFT compliance assessments in the audit and capacity development programmes; and (iv) increased and effective use of information technology and management information systems for AML/CFT risk monitoring and management. therefore, talent development in this area is becoming increasingly critical. A well trained workforce is a valuable asset that would contribute to the implementation of an effective compliance framework with impactful results. This can be achieved through the formulation  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  of structured and coordinated capacity development programmes aimed at elevating the level of technical skills, leadership and professionalism. On this note, Bank Negara Malaysia lauds the initiative by the financial sector in formulating the AML/CFT Certification Programme for compliance officers that will be launched during this conference. This conference and indeed the theme “Raising the Bar in Compliance and Enforcement” is very timely and relevant.