HKMA Rolls out AML RegTech Platform

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the regional central bank and financial watchdog, announced on Friday the launch the first Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regtech Lab (AMLab), in partnership with Cyberport and supported by Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting firms, to further encourage the use of Regtech under the “Fintech 2025” strategy.

The new regtech launch aimed at banks that tackle risks of fraud-related mule accounts using Network Analytics, and that cement data and information sharing through public-private partnerships.

Reportedly, AMLab will strengthen banks’ capabilities to protect customers from fraud and financial crime losses, reduce risk displacement across the banking sector and raise the overall effectiveness of the AML ecosystem.

A group of 5 banks will initially join the program and will collaborate to strengthen the new system’s capabilities. Specifically, they will leverage synthetic data to identify money mules, integrate alternative data into traditional datasets, and will work in the development of further capabilities for the application of network capabilities in identifying money laundering risks.

In June, Fazzaco reported that the HKMA has issued new guidance on the adoption of cloud-based regtech solutions, and stated that banks that were open using cloud-based technology displayed greater operational resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic.