I also wish to register our special welcome to all participants and for the 60 international participants from 14 countries, including our special guest from CAMLMAC, i.e., the Financial Intelligence Unit of the People’s Republic of China. The presence of renowned experts amongst us today from domestic and international institutions in this Conference is testimony to the fact that the areas that we will be discussing during the next two days are not only domestic issues, but universal ones as well. These issues are indeed global issues faced by financial institutions worldwide. On this note, I wish to thank the speakers and moderators who have made their way to Kuala Lumpur, many of whom are from half-way around the world. It is indeed an honour for us to have all of you here to speak at this Conference. The theme for the conference, i.e., “Strengthening Governance to Derive Value” is significantly relevant and timely. The increasing sophistication and the broadening of the reach and network of money laundering and terrorism financing (or ML/TF) globally have elevated the ML/TF threat to the next level. This calls for greater strategic action, more intensified efforts, and better coordination among key stakeholders, both domestically and internationally, to address this concern. Strong governance among the stakeholders, however, remains the key and integral component within the national AML/CFT framework, to prevent the escalation of ML/TF risks. More importantly, strong governance in financial institutions is and will remain a critical safeguard and is pertinent in the overall prevention of ML/TF activities.

Law enforcement agencies have also stepped up capacity and efforts to curb laundering of illegal proceeds. Three main law enforcement agencies for the AMLATFA investigations, i.e., the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Royal Customs Malaysia have established dedicated AML/CFT units to give focus to ML/TF investigations and expedite overall enforcement actions. Other related enforcement agencies have also geared up to achieve the same progress. For Bank Negara Malaysia, we will remain vigilant on the level of compliance of the financial institutions with the AML/CFT rules and measures. Thematic examination will continue to be carried out on AML/CFT compliance of the financial institutions, and other reporting institutions, when the need arises. Non-compliance incidences will be dealt with based on the seriousness of the issue. We will not compromise on serious matters, such as tipping-off, as those are the foundation of the AML/CFT framework. Apart from that, we are fully aware of the concern of not to cause the “overshooting” of AML/CFT implementation so as to affect the financial inclusion agenda. For this, Malaysia will be involved, under the umbrella of the APG and jointly with the FATF on initiative related to financial inclusion, in particular to look at best practices to ensure that implementation of the AML/CFT measures is not a barrier to financial inclusion. In Malaysia, the subject of financial inclusion is actually embedded in the National agenda and implemented with the full participation of the financial sector.