Marzunisham Omar: Digital ID/e-KYC and Financing and Facilitation of Foreign Terrorist Fighters Welcoming remarks by Mr Marzunisham Omar, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the 22nd Asia/Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering Typologies Workshop, virtual, 2 February 2021. * * * It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the first virtual APG Annual Typologies Workshop this week. It is rather unfortunate that I cannot personally host you in Kuala Lumpur for this event. I have recently assumed the role of APG Co-Chair, representing Malaysia. Malaysia is indeed very honoured to co-chair the APG and we are committed to working together with all members in delivering the APG’s mandates during this unprecedented and challenging times. It is my wish that during my tenure as Co-Chair, we would be able to further strengthen the strategic partnership amongst APG members and foster better collaboration in implementing the APG initiatives and agenda. Together with the APG Secretariat, we will continue to provide platforms for members to raise any issues affecting individual members as well as collectively as a group. For this purpose, together with Co-Chair Ian, we have identified several focus areas as the CoChairs’ Priorities, one of which is to host the Annual Typologies Workshop. Despite the pandemic and after a two-year hiatus, we are glad to be able to conduct the APG Typologies Workshop although in a virtual setting.
So far, 21 APG Typologies Workshops have been held since the APG’s formation in 1997, where the last Workshop was held in 2018, jointly with the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) in Russia. These Workshops have contributed to a better comprehension of prevalent money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) threats in the region, by allowing members to understand latest trends, identify key red flags as well as sharing of information on possible counter-measures to respond to the threats. This has assisted members to take the hard decisions to prioritise, apply resources and put in place systems to effectively tackle financial crimes. With so much benefits, the APG is committed to continue holding the Annual Typologies Workshop so that members could keep abreast with the latest ML/TF trends and typologies. As you can see in the agenda, this year’s Workshop aims to discuss two key areas that were approved by the membership earlier. These two topics namely, Digital ID/e-KYC and Financing and Facilitation of Foreign Terrorist Fighters, are timely given the current development in our region. Allow me to touch briefly on these two topics. Digital ID/e-KYC The rapid technology advancement in the last decade has led to significant innovations in the financial sector. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the need for financial institutions around the world to shift their operations onto the digitalised platforms. Digital ID/e-KYC is one such innovation and the authorities have responded accordingly.