Issue 12
October 2024
Welcome to the MBA's News Digest!
Dear readers,
The MBA sets up a Financial Literacy Project in collaboration with a Personal Finance Coach, to increase consumers’ awareness.
Senegal receives a clean bill of health at the latest Financial Action Task Force Plenary, while Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Lebanon are added to the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.
How to recognise vishing? The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association launches its Cybersecurity Awareness Month, to combat phishing, and online scams.
Best wishes,
The MBA team
Outcomes of FATF Plenary
25 October 2024
The first FATF Plenary under the Presidency of Elisa de Anda Madrazo of Mexico concluded on 25 October 2025, with delegates from over 200 jurisdictions and observers from international organisations participating in three days of discussions on key money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing issues.
Key outcomes include:
1. Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring:
Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Lebanon have been added to the list of jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring.
2. Jurisdictions No Longer Subject to Increased Monitoring:
Senegal.
3. Jurisdictions subject to a call for action:
Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Myanmar.
MBA joins forces with Finance Coach for Literacy project
23 October 2024
The Mauritius Bankers Association has entered into collaboration with Mr. Yohann Lanfray, Personal Finance Coach, for the realisation of a Financial Literacy project.
Financial literacy plays a very crucial role in the growth and development of an economy, and forms part of the MBA’s Community Engagement pillar.
Stay tuned for more updates on increasing consumers’ financial awareness over the coming weeks.
FinCEN Assesses Record $1.3 Billion Penalty against TD Bank
10 October 2024
‘As part of the settlement, TD Bank admits that it willfully failed to implement and maintain an AML program that met the minimum requirements of the BSA and FinCEN’s implementing regulations. FinCEN’s investigation revealed that TD Bank knew that its AML program was neither appropriately designed nor adequately resourced to mitigate the actual illicit finance risks that it faced on multiple fronts. Among other failures, TD Bank’s processing of peer-to-peer transactions (e.g., Venmo and Zelle), including transactions indicative of human trafficking, was insufficient, and as a result, TD Bank failed to identify and timely report these transactions to FinCEN. TD Bank also allowed significant backlogs of potentially suspicious activity to persist, thereby depriving law enforcement of necessary information. TD Bank knew that it was the subject of significant funnel account activity involving high-risk countries yet failed to take timely action to address this substantial risk.’
The 2023 banking turmoil and liquidity risk: a progress report
11 October 2024
‘This progress report to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors provides an update on the Basel Committee’s analytical work on the 2023 banking turmoil. It includes updated empirical analysis on a range of liquidity-related issues highlighted by the turmoil, including distressed banks’ outflow rates, the materiality of different liquidity risk factors, and the role and use of supervisory monitoring tools.’
Business Continuity Exercise to Bolster Singapore Financial Sector’s Operational Resilience
15 October 2024
‘Codenamed “Exercise Raffles”, this seventh edition of the exercise included 20 key financial institutions from the banking, payments, securities and insurance sectors. Participants were put through simulated exercise scenarios ranging from IT outages, cyber-attacks and operational disruptions. The aim was to test the institutions’ ability to effectively respond to and recover from operational and business disruptions, as well as their crisis communication plans. The learning points gleaned from the exercise will be used to further reinforce the financial sector’s crisis response and operational resilience.’
SABRIC Reports Significant Increase in Financial Crime Losses for 2023
21 October 2024
‘Card fraud remains a major issue, particularly in online transactions. Card Not Present (CNP) fraud, which occurs during online purchases, made up 68% of gross fraud losses and saw an increase of 19% from the previous year. SABRIC is also concerned about the 85% rise in associated robbery incidents inside bank branches, which pose significant risks to both customers and bank staff. ATM attacks continue to affect the banking sector, especially in Gauteng, despite a slight 9% decrease in incidents. Here, criminals have even managed to remove stained cash despite dye-stain security measures being activated.’
Cybersecurity: stay safe from phishing and vishing attacks
14 October 2024
‘October marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a critical time to focus on the growing digital threats we face every day. This month, the ABBL joins forces with Europol and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) to raise awareness about phishing and online scams, especially within the banking sector. One of the most prevalent tactics used by cybercriminals is phishing. In fact, 90% of data breaches start with a phishing email. These fraudulent messages are designed to trick individuals into sharing sensitive information such as passwords, banking details, or even personal identification.’
Banks act for a responsible and sustainable world
8 October 2024
‘Financing the energy transition is a collective challenge for French banks, which support their customers in their low-carbon projects and take great measures for the climate. Eco-responsible and committed at national and global levels, they also strive to preserve biodiversity. As major players in innovation, French banks also support their customers in their digital transformation, while maintaining a high demand for cyber and financial security. Financial inclusion and support for financially vulnerable customers are the subject of ongoing attention by French banks. They also implement proactive integration policies and support their employees in their professional lives and the transformation of their professions.’
Over 97% of Hong Kongers trust digital banks’ security measures
23 October 2024
‘There are 2.2 million digital bank account holders in Hong Kong as of end-2023, according to data from the HKMA. This figure is expected to expand more, based on HKAB’s survey, with over three-quarters of individual respondents saying they are willing to open new bank accounts with other digital banks. For SME respondents, 99% of those with digital bank accounts indicated strong willingness to open new bank accounts with other digital banks. HKAB also noted that the proportion of customers are now coming from a wider age range rather than just the younger generation.’
CFPB's open banking rules for consumer data unveiled by US watchdog
23 October 2024
‘The top US consumer finance watchdog on Tuesday unveiled long-awaited rules that would make it easier for consumers to switch between financial services providers, a move the agency said was aimed at boosting competition. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “open banking” rule governs data sharing between fintech firms and traditional banks, allowing consumers to easily transfer their personal data between providers free of charge…. Banks, which stand to lose out, were quick to criticize the rule, saying it could jeopardize consumer data security and exceeded the agency’s legal powers, while fintech groups praised it, saying it would promote the safe transfer of consumer data.’
Do digital currencies and cryptocurrencies pose a higher risk of money laundering?
4 October 2024
‘Crypto provides a layer of relative anonymity in transactions due to the lack of centralised oversight, which makes it an attractive option for money launder processes. It also complicates the task of tracing the flow of funds and identifying the individuals involved. However, blockchain technology is designed to ensure every transaction is captured on an immutable ledger, in theory making transactions more transparent, if not time consuming, to trace. The unique level of insight provided by blockchain technology, and “on-chain” data provides an opportunity for enhanced risk management and AML efforts. While tricky and time consuming, transactions can be meticulously analysed and tracked.’
I didn’t make that payment! Bringing the fight to unauthorised fraud
21 October 2024
‘An unauthorised fraud is one where the account holder doesn’t provide authorisation for a transaction, and the eventual payment is carried out by a third party, while the customer does not receive the good or service they agreed to. Some examples are: card fraud, varying from lost and stolen cards, card not received, card not present and counterfeit card frauds; cheque fraud, including counterfeit, forged and altered cheques; account takeovers via remote banking, through internet, phone or mobile banking; Inadvertently being enrolled in wallets (google pay or apple pay) while confirming an alternate transaction; Subscription services posing as single transactions.’
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