Nepal Bankers’ Association in collaboration with Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS) India Chapter jointly organized webinar on “Financial Crime: Emerging Threats & Increasing Compliance”. The main objective of the webinar was to a discuss and share the information and the best practices on various types of financial crimes that are emerging within a region and to explore effective strategies for combating such threats.
Vinco Consultancy and Advisory Service, Founder and Chief Executive, Mr. Lakshman Pandey, welcomed all the participants, highlighted the program structure and spoke on the program’s objectives. NBA Executive Director, Mr. Anil Sharma delivered the introductory remarks and set the platform for an engaging and productive webinar that was aimed to share the knowledge in dealing with financial crimes in region. Mr. Sharma emphasized that there is still much work to be done in addressing financial crimes and the insights from the experts would greatly help in enhancing the knowledge on the subject matter.
Key note speaker of the Program, Former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mr. G. Mahalimgam highlighted that completely eliminating financial crime is very challenging, but to minimize the numbers of such incidences, everyone must work seriously from their end. He highlighted on two major forms of financial crime: money laundering and terrorism financing. To combat such financial crime, Mr. Mahalimgam prescribed four practical steps – regular KYC Update; Customer Due Diligence (CDD); Transaction Monitoring; and Reporting to Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Additionally, Mr. Mahalimgam shed light on the adverse effect of criminal money that would have on nation’s economy and society, and therefore emphasized that combating financial crime is not only crucial for the financial sector but also for the overall well-being and progress of a nation.
Ajcon EduFin Pvt. Ltd, Director, Ms. Pallavi Ajmera made a presentation where she talked upon three major risks associated with financial crime – Security Risk; Compliance Risk; and Data Protection Risk. Moreover, she emphasized that criminals are increasingly employing sophisticated technologies than the banking service providers, resulting in a rise in criminal activities. She highlighted that financial institutions need to better equip with knowledge and technology themselves to address the challenges.
The program concluded with closing remarks from Ajcon EduFin Pvt. Ltd, Compliance Expert, Ms. Jyoti Tandon, where she expressed gratitude to all the participants. The program was attended by officials from various departments of member banks.
