Organized by Fintelekt Advisory Services on September 11-12, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam

ABA Deputy Secretary Mr. Amador Honrado Jr. represented the Asian Bankers Association (ABA) at the “Asia AML/CFT Summit 2019” organized by the Fintelekt Advisory Services on September 11-12, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The ABA was a Supporting Organization of the two-day event held at the at the Intercontinental Landmark Hotel.

The Summit was attended by some 130 delegates from 17 countries, including a number of representatives from ABA member countries. It aimed to provide the participants the valuable opportunity to understand, deliberate on and discuss important issues on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT).

Fintelekt Advisory Services s a specialist in research, training and advisory on AML and CFT in Asia. It produces industry research, fosters dialogue and creates opportunities for knowledge sharing between senior executives from banking, financial services and insurance.

Presentation highlights

The Summit featured AML/CFT professionals and other stakeholders engaged in AML and CFT from across Asia who served as speakers and/or panelists at sessions focusing in relevant topics. Among the presentation highlights are the following:

a. Panel Discussion on The FATF Recommendations – This session featured a regulatory panel discussion at which Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from Taiwan, Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand discussed and shared their perspectives on various issues related to the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) recommendations and raising the standards of compliance within the region. The panelists included Ms. Peiling Tsai, Chief Policy Unit-AML Office, Executive Yuan and Prosecutor, Ministry of Justice, Taiwan; Mr. Mel Georgie Racela, Executive Director, Anti Money Laundering Council, Philippines; Mohammad Abdur Rab, Joint Director, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, Bangladesh; and Ms. Supranee Satitchaircharoen, Investigator, Financial Intelligence Division, Anti-Money Laundering Office, Thailand.

b. Mitigating the Sanctions Risk in AML Compliance – This session featured Mr. Nicholas Turner, Registered Foreign Lawyer at Clifford Chance Hong Kong, who explored recent regulatory trends and enforcement cases that highlight the intersection of sanctions and compliance, and suggested how banks can use their existing KYC and monitoring tools to effectively identify sanctions risks and meet regulatory expectations.

c. Combating Trade-Based Money Laundering – Mr. Sambit Mohanty, Country Head – South Asia at Accuity shared his insights on how banks can overcome the challenges in the area of trade-based money laundering and provided his views on the need for greater cooperation and information sharing amongst various stakeholders

d. Financial Intelligence: Analysis and Use – Mr. Bernard Law, MLRO of Airstar Bank and former Head of Hong Kong FIU, made a presentation on financial intelligence, which he stressed to be important not only to comply with FATF recommendations, but to allow the bank to provide useful information for FIUs and law enforcement agencies to identify the money launderers who are abusing the banking industry.

However, noting a perpetual disconnect between banks and FIUs about the usefulness of financial intelligence, Mr. Law provided inputs to align the needs of quality suspicious transactions reports along the value chain for the benefits of both the banking sector and the regulators.

e. Terrorism Financing, Cross Border Intelligence and Border Security – This session featured Dr John Coyne, Head of Border Security Program, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, who explored the emergent regional trends in terrorism and transnational serious and organised crime. Dr. Coyne examined how AML aligns with intelligence, investigations, border management and international cooperation.

f. Combating Proliferation Financing – This session featured a presentation by Mr. Tom Keatinge, Director, Royal United Services Institute, who provided a comprehensive insight into the threat posed by proliferation finance and the way in which banks and other private sector actors can respond to the expectations of the FATF and the United Nations

g. How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Financial Crime Compliance – This session featured Mr. Colin Camp, Senior Director – Business Development and Sales – Asia Pacific, Pelican. Noting that artificial intelligence is now part of our day-to-day life, Mr. Camp provided insights on how and why the traditional and current compliance approach is failing, and the impact and efficiencies that new technology such as Artificial Intelligence can bring to the increasingly challenging world of financial crime compliance.

h. Reducing Global Suffering Through Vigilant Compliance – This session featured two speakers who articulated how bankers and financial services professionals can help in the fight against trafficking, and the impact of the reputational and financial risks due to non-compliance. Mr. Scott Robertson, PhD, Director for Counter Wildlife Trafficking, Asia Wildlife Conservation Society talked about “Reducing Global Suffering Through Vigilant Compliance.” Ms. Archana Kotecha, Asia Region Director and Head of Legal at Liberty Shared spoke on “How Banks and Financial Institutions Can Help in the Fight Against Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking”.