are fraud, corruption, smuggling, illicit drug trafficking, and organised crimes. corruption, for example, is a systemic issue that infiltrates every sector and level of our society. it funds and enables other higher - risk and devastating crimes. those in the financial industry that facilitate or participate in these corrupt activities, without a doubt, leave repercussions for both victims and society at large. this is why bank negara malaysia ( bnm ) has zero tolerance for such serious lapses in integrity by employees of financial institutions, such as those that have made headlines recently. these employees had been recruited by criminal syndicates to facilitate corruption and fraudulent activities. while these cases are isolated, they can severely 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches tarnish the entire industry's reputation and erode public confidence and trust. bnm has put in place robust supervisory and enforcement processes in these areas, including requiring banks to undertake screening and vetting of new hires and frontline staff on an ongoing basis. bnm will not hesitate to impose heavy penalties on financial institutions that have lapses in these areas. at the end of the day, fighting financial crime requires the full commitment of every single employee within the financial institution. strong governance and risk controls must be reinforced by a healthy risk culture. this begins with a rigorous hiring process that not only accounts for technical proficiencies but also integrity. an institution is as good as its people. it is for this reason that bnm sets high expectations in its employee screening requirements for financial institutions. each employee must see themselves as custodians of public trust and recognise the significance of their role within the financial system. part 3 : collaboration – continuous and sustained ladies and gentlemen, while it falls on each of us to bear our duties with integrity and competence, we must also be good collaborators with one another. financial crimes are not just confined to the financial sector. they permeate various facets of our daily lives, impacting our communities, businesses and the very fabric of our society. this reality underscores the necessity for a whole - of - nation approach where everyone has a role to play. one clear example of where synergies have been critical is in addressing frauds and scams. in the last 21 months since its establishment in october 2022, the national scam response centre has received approximately 105, 000 calls from scam victims, with a total reported loss of rm328 million. these numbers represent merely the tip of the iceberg

platform and other use of internet technologies for money laundering activities are on the rise. new technologies are also being used to perpetrate crimes such as dealing in illegal drugs over the internet and e - crimes, including phishing and internet auction frauds ; 3. there are also instances on the use of dummies, or an international network of shell companies as well as other intermediaries to handle the transactions ; and 4. the use of electronic fund transfers as one of the preferred methods for the layering of criminal proceeds once they enter the legitimate financial system. there are cases where these proceeds are smuggled out of one country, deposited in another country or other countries, and then wired back to the country of origin. iii. strategic focus to strengthen the national aml / cft regime as the challenges to address the emerging trends intensify, it becomes imperative that the overarching objective upon which an aml / cft regime has been built remains intact and achievable. the key is to sustain the robustness of the aml / cft regime to effectively deter and detect money laundering and terrorism financing offences. thus the third and the last theme of my speech is on malaysia's strategic focus in strengthening the national aml / cft regime. against this backdrop, five key areas has been identified. first is to strengthen collaboration and cooperation among key stakeholders. foremost is to enhance the public - private sector partnership as synchronised actions deliver better result. the move to increase the resources for money laundering and terrorism financing investigations by the domestic law enforcement agencies, which currently is the emerging trend, needs to be supported with swift actions from the fiu and prompt response from reporting institutions. another is that, at the international level, malaysia will continue to enhance multilateral and bilateral relationships. i am happy to inform that we have recently concluded an mou with the national bank of cambodia, bringing the total number of mous signed to 18. we have and will continue to provide assistance to countries in the asia / pacific region. second is to provide greater focus in enhancing the competency and capacity of key stakeholders, i. e., the analysts, law enforcement officers and compliance officers. despite the unfavourable economic condition, human resources and capacity building remain as one of our top focus. we plan to roll out capacity building programmes for analysts and enforcement officers covering fundamental, intermediate and advance level training programmes. the certified financial investigators programme, or cfip, i.