lending to smes has been little changed since the onset of the pandemic ( graph 2 ). indeed, sme lending has been around its current level for the past few years. aside from lending to the agricultural sector, which increased throughout much of 2020, lending has been flat for smes across the board ( graph 3 ). but lending to smes in those industries most adversely affected by the pandemic has been low for some time. in contrast to smes, lending to large businesses increased sharply in march and april last year, as those businesses drew upon sizeable lines of credit. large businesses have since repaid these funds, though outstanding lending remains a bit above pre - pandemic levels. graph 2 lending to business * $ b $ b large business medium business small business j a s o n d j f m a m j j a s o n d j f * data cover financial institutions with $ 2 billion or more in business credit sources : apra ; rba graph 3 lending to selected industries small and medium - sized businesses, credit outstanding $ b highly affected by covid - 19 * less affected by covid - 19 * $ b rental agriculture other highly affected * * other services * * * accom & food construction admin healthcare s d m j s d m s d m j s d m * highly affected industries had the highest share of businesses report a fall in revenue of greater than 50 per cent in a june 2020 abs survey ; less affected industries are the top four by value of sme lending * * education & training ; arts & recreation ; information media & telecoms * * * other services includes a broad range of personal services, selected repair and maintenance activities and private households employing staff sources : apra ; rba there has been little change in total sme lending over the past 12 months for several reasons. in part, it reflects the reluctance of some businesses to take on more debt in a weaker and more uncertain economic environment. at the same time, many businesses, including smaller ones, have been able to make use of government and private - sector measures designed to support business cash flows. this reduced the need for many businesses to access external finance, which is more expensive than a business's own internal funds. another factor weighing on lending is a more cautious approach by banks in deciding whether to finance small businesses. much of this has reflected the application of pre - existing lending standards in a weaker economic environment. but lending standards have

marzunisham omar : welcoming remarks - 23rd asia / pacific group on money laundering ( apg ) typologies workshop welcoming remarks by mr marzunisham omar, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the 23rd asia / pacific group on money laundering ( apg ) typologies workshop, 9 november 2021. * * * it is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the 23rd apg typologies workshop. this is the second time the annual typologies workshop is held virtually. malaysia is pleased to jointly host the workshop with the apg secretariat. after more than a year of covid - 19, the past few months have seen the ease of the pandemic and the lifting of restrictions by most countries. despite the challenging environment, it is encouraging to note that the authorities remain vigilant in the fight against money laundering ( ml ), terrorism financing ( tf ) and proliferation financing ( pf ). indeed, we are facing new and increasing challenges following the increasing sophistication of financial tools and products. this morning, allow me to share four observations on the recent developments and challenges that are pertinent in strengthening aml / cft / cpf measures. first, on therapid changes of ml / tf / pf methods and risks that are driven by technology. as the shift towards digitalisation especially in the financial industry accelerates, the emerging risks presented are intensifying. the rapid change in technology sometimes result in aml / cft / cpf measures undertaken by authorities to be reactive. for example, we see this in the virtual asset sector given its rapid development and widespread innovations. as such, knowledge sharing platforms such as this workshop are useful to enhance our knowledge on the latest changes and trends in this space. it is also crucial to continuously adopt new approaches and tools such as data analytics and artificial intelligence to elevate our surveillance and enforcement capability in keeping up with the increasingly complex and innovative financial instruments. remaining reactive and defensive would limit our opportunity to proactively shape the orderly development of the financial landscape while managing any potential ml / tf / pf risks that accompany it. the second observation is on the greater scrutiny by both the domestic stakeholders and global community on aml / cft / cpf measures and implementation. revelations of highprofile information such as panama papers, fincen leaks and more recently, the pandora papers, have