27th Parliamentary-Intelligence Security Forum – Responding To Emerging Trends in Financial Crime

Honorable Brent McIntosh began by expressing his gratitude for the introduction and acknowledging distinguished parliamentarians, guests, and colleagues at the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum (PISF). He emphasized that one of the most pressing global challenges today is combating the emerging threats of financial crime, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, noting that financial crime fuels the activities of malicious actors worldwide. Highlighting the evolution of economic statecraft including sanctions, export controls, anti-money laundering measures, trade regulations, and investment controls he explained that these tools have increasingly become primary means of influencing foreign actors, supplementing traditional military and diplomatic measures. Using recent examples, he illustrated how Russia circumvented international sanctions in the Ukraine conflict through a network of over 6,000 shell companies, facilitated by entities in China, Hong Kong, India, and Thailand. He stressed that financial crime is becoming more sophisticated, interconnected, and global, with bad actors leveraging advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and deep fakes, to disguise transactions and evade oversight. He highlighted the challenges posed by fragmented data privacy regulations and the rise of fintechs and non-bank intermediaries, which create opportunities for regulatory arbitrage. To address these threats, he advocated for comprehensive, adaptive, and proactive approaches, including strengthening risk-based AML and sanctions programs, enhancing due diligence to uncover beneficial ownership, monitoring cross-border transactions, and fostering harmonized global regulations. He cited initiatives such as Singapore’s COSMIC platform as effective models for information sharing across financial institutions.

In conclusion, Hon. McIntosh underscored the importance of leveraging new technologies, enhancing global coordination, and taking a predictive approach to financial crime. He emphasized that both the financial industry and governments share a responsibility to protect the integrity of the global financial system, ensuring that emerging threats are identified and mitigated before they cause significant harm. He closed by expressing his commitment to working with international partners to strengthen defenses against financial crime and the illicit activities it enables.