involved. secondly, we must also not forget that even with the emergence of the technologies described earlier, we are still very much reliant on cash. demand for cash worldwide continues to rise. for malaysia, currency in circulation has increased by around 150 % over the past decade. however, if we scale it to the country ’ s gdp, it was in the range between 6. 1 to 6. 9 % over the past five years. thus, despite the headway we have made in advancing e - payments, the persistency of cash among the public and small and medium sized businesses remains high. this opens up the economy to risks as cash is still being used by criminals to launder illegal proceeds, as we 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches have seen from some high - profile cases over the past year or so. similarly, this is the preferred mode to finance terrorist activities, which will involve transacting in cash. therefore, it is timely for us to look at ways to strengthen the controls to mitigate financial crime ; namely the cash threshold reporting requirement. when we compare malaysia with other countries, our current threshold is too high and disconnected from the size of our economy, especially relative to our purchasing power. hence, it needs to be updated. in this regard, we would like to announce that we will be lowering the daily cash threshold report to rm25, 000 effective 1 january 2019. this will bring the cash threshold report in malaysia to be more at par with other countries. we do not anticipate any impact in terms of economic activity but an increase in effectiveness in taming the black economy that is still heavily reliant on cash transactions. robust compliance function the compliance function of a financial institution is an important element in mitigating risks of abuse of the financial system, especially financial crime and terrorism financing risks. to this end, financial institutions are expected to ensure that the compliance function is independent and have sufficient authority, stature and resources to perform its function effectively. the required aml / cft compliance program of each institution must clearly describe and outline the roles and responsibility of different segments of the institutions with respect to its compliance function. in this regard, the principle of collective responsibility between senior managements and compliance officers should be upheld in the case of failure. in compliance, continued vigilance is necessary and required. the 2017 national risk assessment, by the national coordinating committee for money laundering ( ncc ) and the financial sector, showed that the banking sector continues

cannot hope to move very far, or with much confidence in efforts to increase the development impact of remittances. in summary, the notion of proportionate regulation has more than one dimension. it should not be mistaken for lighter regulation, nor should it be informed by considerations of size alone. the world is much more complex and regulators will need to find creative ways to better understand and manage that complexity. this is a paradigm shift in the way that regulation is traditionally approached – to one that is more iterative, more inclusive and more discerning. conclusion eleanor roosevelt once said that universal human rights begins in small places close to home – where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, opportunity and dignity without discrimination. remittances have significant potential to deliver such opportunities to millions of migrants in their home countries. let this forum serve as a call to action, based on an honest search for better understanding and a genuine commitment to pursue individual and collective solutions. with much at stake, we cannot afford not to. thank you. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches