This cooperation has also included active participation in public-private partnership initiatives, including the National Scams Response Centre. As a member of the Financial Action Taskforce or FATF, Malaysia will once again be undergoing a Mutual Evaluations Exercise in 2024 and 2025. For the uninitiated, this is an in-depth assessment of the country's measures to combat ML/TF risks and its compliance with the international standards set by the FATF. This will be the fourth time for us and the last one was done in 2014. It is my hope that the stride made in Malaysia's AML/CFT ecosystem, strong commitment of all institutions towards a highintegrity financial system, and effective cooperation between the industry and public authorities will be reflected in the eventual outcomes of the Evaluation Exercise. In particular, it is paramount for all staff of reporting institutions to maintain high professional standards, adhere to existing confidentiality requirements, and undergo adequate AML/CFT trainings. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to leave you with a line that is often quoted when speaking about integrity: "Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching". While the quote may have been over-used, it has not dimmed its truth one bit. It is much easier to do the right thing under other watchful eyes, the safety barriers of procedures, or even the instruction of prescriptive rules. But oftentimes, the decisions that will matter most are what we choose to do when nobody, but our conscience is watching.

While each individual is responsible for maintaining high standards of integrity in their personal conduct and everyday work, the institution's management has a duty to ensure that the systems in place do not become an impediment to individual acts of honesty, transparency and integrity. Encouraging staff at all levels to voice their concerns, fostering an environment of healthy debate, and championing individual examples of personal integrity in the workplace are all important steps towards a robust check and balance system within the institution. A strong governance framework would promote these ideals, while mitigating the worst effects of their absence. This includes, among others, clear roles and accountabilities across all key actors or leaders within the institution, strong whistleblowing policies, transparent procurement procedures and a continuous commitment towards awareness training on best practices in these. In this regard, leaders have an important role to play; from setting the right tone from the top to exhibiting the right values and behaviours, that is walk the talk. Within Islamic finance, these are practices that are in line with the principle of Maqasid Al-Shariah. The consideration of wider social welfare and the greater good should form the basis of all personal conduct, and on a higher level, institutional decisions. Valuebased intermediation, or VBI, similarly calls for Islamic financial institutions to deliver the highest ethical standards in all aspects of businesses by embedding self-discipline and continuous improvement within their operations and practices. This is in line with Shariah principles of righteousness (or what we call ihsan) and consultation (or istisharah).