the affected individual lawyer or the associated firm but the legal fraternity as a whole. it is on this note that i urge the lawyers to always conduct yourselves in a manner that upholds the public trust and confidence in the legal profession. it is our hope that lawyers will err on the side of caution in interpreting their compulsory reporting obligations under the amla. based on the outcome of the national risk assessment in 2017 on dnfbp sectors, in particular, the legal sector has been assessed as medium high and medium level for net money laundering ( ml ) and terrorism financing ( tf ) risk, respectively. the rating is predominantly driven by the inherent higher risk services provided by lawyers which are vulnerable to abuses for ml related activities, for example, the use of client account, conveyancing and provision of nominee services, which are further aggravated by the marginal level of aml / cft control measures generally implemented by the legal fraternity. consequently, the recent two years have seen the intensification of our outreach to the legal fraternity, in particular and to dnfbp sectors, in general, with the mix of on - site examinations, awareness and engagement sessions, off - site data and information submission activities. while we have observed positive and progressive improvements by the dnfbp sectors, overall aml / cft compliance, however, remains relatively inadequate, mainly attributed to the lack of awareness and understanding of aml / cft obligations and risks. bank negara malaysia has, increasingly over the years, taken more stringent enforcement actions on reporting institutions for non - compliances with aml / cft requirements. while the focus so far has been on financial institutions, bank negara malaysia will continue to pursue enforcement actions against all reporting institutions, where warranted. in this regard, it is of utmost importance for the dnfbp sectors to understand the vulnerabilities of its sector to ml and tf risks that its products or services may be exploited by criminals to advance ml and tf related crimes, and be vigilant in protecting themselves from being abused or inadvertently facilitating ml or tf activities. in this manner, the dnfbps in general and legal professionals in particular, are in a position to detect irregularities in the transactions and discharge their obligation in submission of suspicious transaction reports to bank negara malaysia, in a timely manner. so, how can we mitigate the risk of inadvertently facilitating ml and tf activities? apart from 2 / 3 bis central bankers

suhaimi ali : opening remarks - open finance conference and workshop opening remarks by mr suhaimi ali, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the open finance conference and workshop, kuala lumpur, 29 october 2024. * * * it is a pleasure to be here today at the open finance conference and workshop. today's event is an important milestone in our open finance journey, as we seek to turn into reality the vision and aspiration we have to advance the development of an open data ecosystem for the financial sector as set out in the financial sector blueprint 2022 - 2026. open finance, and more broadly, open data, is an important priority for us given the realities of our operating environment and the world we live in today. as more transactions move to the digital sphere, so does data. with this, there is growing recognition of the criticality of key infrastructures that store, share or synthesise these data which are the foundation for realising a digital economy. open finance can help support this by giving customers the right to exercise control over their personal data and establishing a trusted, secure and structured environment to do so. the open finance conference and workshop today is also timely following recent passage of the personal data protection ( amendment ) bill 2024 in parliament. the pdpa amendment act introduces, among others, the right to data portability. both customers and the financial sector stand to benefit from open finance. by providing the tools for customers to exercise control over their personal data through a customer - permissioned, trusted, secure and structured environment, we believe that this can in turn lead to new product possibilities and solutions. these include datadriven innovations that promote greater financial inclusion and empower consumers to make better - informed decisions about their finances. this is a vast opportunity for financial institutions and other players, such as fintech companies, to serve. indeed, we believe that open finance will allow the industry to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and fast - moving world in meeting the expectations of consumers for more transparent and innovative solutions that fill their needs. with this in mind, bank negara malaysia is encouraged that paynet has stepped up to drive the development and implementation of the infrastructures and common technical standards for open finance. bank negara malaysia will also work closely with paynet and the industry in delivering the intended vision for open finance by putting in place an enabling regulatory environment that will support the financial sector's state of readiness for open