The 3rd Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) Summit organised by Bank Negara Malaysia in partnership with Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, and Indonesia’s Pusat Pelaporan dan Analisis Transaksi Keuangan (PPATK), will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 20 - 23 November 2017. 

The Summit will bring together more than 350 specialists and professionals from 35 countries and international organisations to share their insights on the latest terrorism financing (TF) issues and developments.  

This year’s Summit will be officially opened by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs of Malaysia, YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. The Australian Minister for Justice, the Hon Michael Keenan, and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs of Indonesia, the Honorable General Wiranto, will deliver opening speeches. 

Building on this year’s Summit theme of innovation, the event will include the inaugural International Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) Codeathon, with over 80 participants from the region. The Codeathon serves as a platform for individuals and organisations to develop new tools, techniques and ideas to address TF challenges through information technology and digital solutions. 

Under the theme ‘Powering Regional Solutions through Strengthened Alliances and Innovations’, the Summit will build on the work of the preceding Summits in Sydney (2015) and Bali (2016). This includes strategic collaboration between financial intelligence agencies, policy makers, law enforcement agencies, academics and industry players to strengthen the CTF framework across the region. 

The Summit features an innovation forum, industry alliance forum, and plenary sessions covering topics that contribute to the development of regional solutions to counter TF. This will be explored in detail by experts from around the world. 

Topics include the latest technological developments involving RegTech, FinTech, cryptocurrency and the dark web (in the Innovation Forum), enhancing public-private sector cooperation in sharing practical solutions to counter TF risks facing the financial sector (in the Industry Alliance Forum), and the threat of home-grown terrorists and role of social media and crowdfunding in TF (in the Plenary sessions). 

The Summit will deliver a commitment made at the previous year’s CTF Summit in Bali, delivering the first regional TF risk assessment for non-profit organisations (NPOs) and overview assessment of the TF risks in cross-border cash movements within the region. An agenda will also be set for regional projects in the coming year. 

Director of Financial Intelligence and Enforcement Department, Bank Negara Malaysia, Abd. Rahman Abu Bakar, looks forward to welcome the delegates and participants to the Summit. 

“CTF Summit this year will predominantly feature discussions on current technological trends and the potential impact they have on TF. Due to the unceasingly vital strategic cooperation between all parties, the understanding of these trends and how they affect the TF landscape in the region would play an important role in the future counter-TF strategies,” Rahman said. 

“The work undertaken throughout the years has shown positive outcomes and will continue to be strengthened to address terrorism financing risks.” he added. 

Chief Executive Officer of AUSTRAC, Nicole Rose PSM, said AUSTRAC and its regional partners have worked on an ambitious program for this year’s Summit, to achieve historic outcomes in protecting the South-East Asia region from the harm of terrorist organisations and individuals.

 “AUSTRAC and its partners will build further on strategies and initiatives and progress these in 2018. We look forward to sharing with Summit delegates and participants the outcomes of our regional work, including the Counter ISIL Finance Group co-led by AUSTRAC and the Philippines AMLC.” said Nicole. 

Head of PPATK, Kiagus Ahmad Badaruddin, said, through CFT Summit, we have to collectively maintain our focus and continue to share ideas on the solutions in combating terrorist-financing, by maximising the use of financial intelligence to detect and deter the funding to terrorist organisations through information sharing and international cooperation. 

“It is our hope that this Summit will serve as a platform for the sharing and development of innovative solutions to our challenges. I am confident that the discussions of the Summit will foster strong regional collaboration and innovation, to detect and stop the flow of funds that support terrorism.” said Kiagus. 

The Summit is expected to deliver the Kuala Lumpur Communiqué which will cumulate the yearlong work and a road map for the next year’s Summit.

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