Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Financing Of Terrorism Conference - The Need For Continued Vigilance

The Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Financing of Terrorism Conference was co-organised by CAD and the Internal Security Department ("ISD") on 11 August 2004. The theme of this conference was "The Need for Continued Vigilance", signifying our continuous bid to renew our financial community's vigilance against the increasingly pervasive threats of money laundering and terrorism financing.

The conference was also targeted at compliance and risk management professionals from the various financial institutions. The Guest of Honour was our Permanent Secretary (PS) for Home Affairs, Mr Tan Guong Ching. PS highlighted in his opening address the growing need for financial institutions to collaborate more closely with the law enforcement agencies towards a more robust anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing architecture.

There was also a greater emphasis on terrorism financing at this conference as the organisers had the privilege to invite an expert on the topic, Dr Josef Bollag, as a guest speaker. Dr Bollag is a Counsellor at Law and Senior Advisor to Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for Financial Intermediaries in Zug, Switzerland. Dr Bollag featured real-life case studies in his presentations to illustrate the mechanisms and workings of terrorism financing more effectively.

Response from the participants was nothing short of enthusiastic. This was evident in the two Question-and-Answer (Q&A) sessions held, where the speakers met with a steady stream of questions from members of the audience, resulting in a much fruitful discussion and exchange of ideas.

The conference achieved its objective in raising the participants' awareness of money laundering and terrorism financing as an emerging threat of our time. Through the various workshops and case studies, participants gained invaluable exposure to the requisite skills involved in identifying and dealing with various money laundering and terrorism financing issues in their practical reality.

The Organising Committee		Dr Josef Bollag, Counsellor at Law and Senior Advisor to Self-Regulatory Organisation for Financial Intermediaries in Zug, Switerland giving his presentation

Q&A Session		Mr Ho Wah Lee, Director of KPMG Forensic Services giving his presentation