Omar warns professional services enable illicit financial flows
Marzunisham Omar, Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, urged professional service providers to strengthen financial-crime controls in Kuala Lumpur on October 22, 2026. He cited enforcement cases and rising corporate mule accounts.
Failures draw joint enforcement
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Companies Commission of Malaysia took action against a company secretary for failing to submit suspicious transaction reports.
The reports concerned foreign nationals suspected of involvement in an international scam syndicate.
BNM and the Labuan Financial Services Authority also acted against a Labuan investment bank over deficient customer due diligence and delayed suspicious transaction reports.
Omar said professional providers must establish client identities, sources of funds and transaction purposes, using risk-based scrutiny rather than procedural checks alone.
National Fraud Portal data show rising corporate mule accounts used to conceal illicit financial flows.
Twenty-five years of financial-crime controls
Malaysia enacted its Anti-Money Laundering Act in 2001, 25 years before the conference.
Omar said its recent Mutual Evaluation reaffirmed professional providers' gatekeeping role.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime assessment identifies lawyers and accountants as contracted facilitators for criminal networks in South-East Asia.
Digital onboarding and cross-border services create identity-concealment risks.
In 2027, BNM will conduct its next National Risk Assessment to inform sector-specific policies, guidance and mitigation.
Judgment beyond procedural compliance
Omar framed effective gatekeeping as professional judgment, not merely compliance with reporting rules.
Weak diligence in one sector compromises the wider system, he said.
He called for earlier identification of vulnerabilities, information sharing and coordinated action.