The Joint International Forum for Supervisory Authorities and Private Sector titled 'A Reasonable Balance and Trust-Based Dialogue' met in St. Petersburg on April 22-24. It brought together around 200 delegates from 30 countries of the CIS, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe.
The final day of the Forum featured a plenary session titled ‘Financial Security Network: a Look Into the Future’ with the following speakers participating: Ms. Galina Bobrysheva, Deputy Director of Rosfinmonitoring; Mr. Sergey Teterukov, Executive Secretary of the EAG; Mr. Suliman Al-Jabrin, Executive Secretary of the MENAFATF; Ms. Zitha P. Fikile, Executive Secretary of the ESAAMLG; Mr. André Kanga, Executive Secretary of GABAC; and Dr. Jeffrey Isima, Director of Policy and Research at the GIABA Secretariat.
Ms. Bobrysheva emphasized the importance of striking a reasonable balance in supervisory practices maintaining the full toolkit ranging from prevention and training to tough measures against deliberate breaches.
“Today, supervision and compliance are rapidly going digital, and platform-based solutions are emerging. In this new reality, our effort should be underpinned by aggregating big data and effective risk management should be informed by multifactor analysis with a deep dive on the causes. The future lies in the culture of relations between the supervisory authorities and the private sector, and between the private sector and its clients, the consumers of financial services. It should be based on trust stemming from competence and professionalism,” Ms. Bobrysheva said.
She highlighted the importance of bringing together the expert community and young people to discuss financial security issues. She mentioned the International Movement on Financial Security spanning dozens of countries, and its flagship project, the thematic International Olympiad on Financial Security to be held for the sixth time this year.
Sergey Teterukov, Executive Secretary of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, highlighted the role of FATF-style regional bodies in building the architecture of global and regional financial security:
“Financial crime today is transnational. In these circumstances, it is more important than ever to build a strong international barrier, which makes the dialogue and cooperation between FATF-style regional bodies crucial. Our Forum and the response of participants to the issues under discussion show that we all understand this very well and are ready to continue our effective work together.”
The participants reaffirmed their commitment to international cooperation, which is especially important given the transnational nature of crimes related to money laundering and terrorist financing.
It was noted that digitalization, new communications and big data technologies should underpin the effort today. The need to continuously exchange best practices was also emphasized.
The profile of the future compliance officer and supervisory authority specialist was presented by the participants in the section titled ‘Conscious Compliance: the Path to a High Culture of Customer Communication. Working with Young People as an Element of Proactive Compliance and Increasing Financial Inclusion.’
The experts shared their vision of the future of supervisory activity and described the competencies they consider important for specialists living in the digital era. The participants also discussed mechanisms and ways to improve the culture of law-obedience in AML/CFT, the effectiveness of compliance and its impact on the security of financial products and their accessibility to users.
The International Forum for Supervisory Authorities and Private Sector is held under the auspices of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG), the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), the Task Force on Money Laundering in Central Africa (GABAC), and the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), with the support of Rosfinmonitoring and the International Training and Methodology Centre for Financial Monitoring (ITMCFM).
The Forum is designed to improve the quality of public-private partnership and international cooperation between the competent authorities, financial institutions and non-financial organizations participating in AML systems, including as part of preparations for mutual evaluations.
