Invest wisely As we build up our savings, some of us may wish to invest part of it to obtain higher returns. Investments in bonds, equities, mutual funds (or unit trusts) and other financial products typically yield higher returns than bank deposit rates over the medium to long term. But they also carry higher risks.   For the majority of financial investments, neither the returns nor the principal amount invested are guaranteed. This means we could potentially get less than what we have put in. MAS has set stringent disclosure requirements for financial products. We also require that information be provided in a clear and concise manner, through the use of Product Highlight Sheets, for example. But the responsibility ultimately lies with the investor. Every month, MAS receives, on average, about 10 complaints from the public involving the sale of investment products. To be sure, some of them involve mis-selling or poor disclosure, for which the financial adviser or institution is responsible. But there many others – sad stories of people who have lost their money because they did not exercise basic due diligence:   people who were attracted by the lure of high returns and purchased investment products without realising their risks;    people who listened to tips about “sure-to-win” investments and invested large sums of money in them without reading the product documentation;    people who signed blank sheets understanding what they were buying.

While improving understanding is crucial, it also needs to be complemented with concrete actions that would improve the effectiveness of preventive and enforcement actions. For example, this could be done by incorporating and overlaying these insights into the transaction monitoring process and customer profiling. The implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations will allow more effective actions to be undertaken. Both aspects of compliance, that is, technical and effectiveness, are equally important. The philosophy behind the intended outcomes is the integrated manner in which countries should combat financial crimes. This would require cooperation from all parties involved and encompass the whole eco-system of combating financial crime: investigation, prosecution, conviction and confiscation. No stone should be left unturned. FATF in its 2015 evaluation, recognised Malaysia as having high technical compliance but called on Malaysia to ensure greater effectiveness in producing the desired outcomes of our system especially in the area of investigation, prosecution, and forfeiture of laundered properties. Understanding of new and emerging risks and having a comprehensive toolkit  2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  My second point is the need to have a deep understanding of new and emerging risks and a comprehensive toolkit to effectively execute our shared responsibility to eradicate financial crime. All of you may have heard this many times, but it is worth restating that the rapid advancement in technology is a major running story for our age. While this presents wonderful opportunities for economic development, it also creates attendant risks and fresh set of challenges.