The increasing expectations for good governance, effective risk management and complex demands for legislative and regulatory compliance are presenting a growing challenge for every organization. During the last few years, institutions of all sizes had no choice but to invest significantly in embracing higher governance standards to increase their market share in a volatile and competitive market. This also applies in building effective AML/CFT compliance programs. The ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’ legislations may have been seen as an unreasonable burden in the early years by the financial sector. But that mindset is slowly shifting where many institutions are realising that their reputation in the market place is a key component in realising their corporate vision, mission and achieving shareholders’ value. Now the buzz phrase, ‘the responsibility and mission of everyone involved in financial system is to safeguard the financial system from abuses of money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes’ is fast becoming a norm.

In many countries, the tougher enforcement regime of AML/CFT compliance has resulted in penalties for violation and non-compliances of the regulations. Since there is a significant potential exposure for reputational risk and the cost associated with each institution’s AML/CFT compliance program, the Board and the Senior Management are realising the importance and value of managing the compliance risk as part of each institution’s risk management framework. Every institution stands to derive value by establishing comprehensive programs to manage compliance risk. The investment each institution makes in building an effective compliance program serves as a foundation for building a strong risk based institution with sound governance structure. The theme of the conference ‘Strengthening Governance to Derive Value’ represents the recognition that there is value in embedding and embracing international governance standards such as in building an effective AML/CFT compliance program.

The building blocks for successful implementation of an effective AML/CFT compliance program in every reporting institution (RI) requires adequate capacity building. The National Coordination Committee (NCC) to Counter Money Laundering and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Bank Negara Malaysia (FIU of BNM) have been advocating and implementing measures to put Malaysia’s AML/CFT regime to be on par with the international standards. One key initiative is capacity building to elevate the standards of the RIs, enforcement agencies and financial investigators. The Compliance Officers’ Networking Group of Malaysia (CONG) on its part has been working to raise the standard of compliance in the country with several of its initiatives. Key amongst them is promoting capacity building and closer working relationship with the regulators and enforcement agencies to enhance governance and improving awareness in Malaysia and the region. This conference is testament to the efforts of CONG in promoting capacity building where a high quality conference at an affordable price is organised in collaboration with Institute of Bankers Malaysia (IBBM), Securities Industry Development Corporation (SIDC), Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII) and Asian Institute of Finance (AIF) with the support of FIU of BNM and the sponsors.

This conference is structured to be the platform for the know-how in implementing an effective AML/CFT compliance program. The topics covered in this conference have important relevance to the current issues in the fight against financial crime and terrorism financing led by eminent speakers and subject matter experts in the field of AML/CFT compliance. The keynote addresses are designed to educate on the need for stronger governance measures while the plenary sessions are designed to provide broader understanding on the strategy to be adopted in designing the AML/CFT compliance program to operate in an intertwined global financial system. The concurrent sessions on the other hand designed to provide deeper understanding of the many financial crimes with special focus on the red flags of suspicious transactions. It is the aspiration of the organizing committee that the key take away points from this conference will help participants in designing or aligning their AML/CFT compliance program in line with the international best practices.