The week kicked off with the 12th Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Group (FISPLG) and 8th Global Standards Proportionality (GSP) Working Group meetings in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Organized by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the four-day event has concluded its second day where working group members converged to address common priority issues.

“The gender gap still persists globally, remaining around 9 percentage points in developing countries, based on the 2017 Global FINDEX report; intervention from AFI members is important,” highlighted Norbert Mumba, AFI Executive Director during his opening remarks, alongside H.E. Chea Chanto, Governor of NBC.

“By now, we are all aware that the working group strategy of conceptualization and implementation has been one of the most efficient, and effective way of enabling AFI goals but also results in clear, practical solutions for members, taking into account their priorities,” emphasized Joseph Attah, Deputy Director, Central Bank of Nigeria and Chair of FISPLG.

Many countries around the world are challenged with designing Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks and processes that meet Financial Action Task Force (FATF) integrity standards while at the same time promoting both financial inclusion. Therefore, policymakers and regulators face a challenge in managing potential tradeoffs and finding an optimal balance between the dual priorities of financial inclusion and financial integrity.

During her opening speech, Director at Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Chair of GSP Working Group, Marina Kahar stated that “AML/CFT countries still face challenges in preparing effective mutual evaluations including inadequate national ID infrastructure that hampers KYC processes. It’s important to keep abreast on how technology could potentially overcome these challenges in these areas.”

Key findings from a report published by Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA) look at how effectively implementing a risk-based approach (RBA) to AML/CFT regulation can balance financial inclusion and financial integrity as complementary objectives. These findings were the basis for a Guidance Note on Inclusive Financial Integrity published by CENFRI, and shared as part of the 5-day training hosted by BNM and AFI on AML/CFT Considerations and Approaches for Financial Inclusion in October 2017.

“Identifying, assessing and understanding AML/CFT risks is an essential part of implementing and developing a national anti-money laundering regime,” said Nomcebo Hadebe from the Ministry of Finance, Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).

Meanwhile, Robin Newnham, Head of Policy Analysis and Capacity Building, AFI said that “the way forward for AFI members is to develop regulatory and policy guidance for the advancement of financial inclusion of Financially Displaced Persons (FDPs),” during a presentation of the G20 roadmap for inclusion of FDPs.