HKMA and Cyberport jointly promote use of regulatory technology in Anti-Money Laundering

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Cyberport, supported by Deloitte, co-organised today (21 July) the second AML Regtech Lab (AMLab), which is part of the HKMA’s “Fintech 2025” strategy. Building on the first session held last November1, which explored network analytics capability, the second AMLab focuses on low-barrier, easy-to-implement technologies, such as robotic process automation, low-code/no-code platforms and visualisation tools. These “enabling technologies” allow automation of repetitive and time-intensive processes, managing large volumes of data to draw insights from data analysis to be presented in easily understood formats.

In this AMLab, a group of five small and medium-sized banks collaborated with technical experts to:

(i)target common pain points in essential but repetitive AML operations, such as customer due diligence at on-boarding and record keeping;(ii)identify applicable technology solutions to address the common pain points and develop business cases for the adoption of “enabling technologies”; and(iii) gain hands-on experience with relevant technologies and explore potential use cases to cope with individual circumstances.

A new Regtech Connect session also took place immediately following the AMLab, in which technology companies in Cyberport demonstrated a range of tools and services, connecting with participating banks in open and collaborative discussions regarding the use of AML Regtech.

Ms Carmen Chu, Executive Director (Enforcement and AML) of the HKMA, said at the AMLab session, “In the digital era, our AML work has to be faster, smarter and more effective. The technologies we have worked with today offer innovative ways to strengthen the capacity of our talent to prevent and detect abuse of bank accounts for fraud and money laundering, and thus safeguarding the stability and integrity of the financial system.”

Mr Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer, Cyberport said, “Regtech is one of the key focuses of Cyberport’s Fintech community. Many of our Regtech start-ups can offer low cost and easily adoptable solutions to accelerate digital transformation of financial institutions. We are delighted to partner with the HKMA and organise the Regtech Connect for banks and start-ups to explore collaboration opportunities, further facilitating the adoption of AML Regtech solutions.”

The HKMA and Cyberport will continue to encourage innovation and arrange further AMLabs on other solutions such as Regtech tools for banks’ transaction monitoring, in order to share hands-on experience and further enhance capability.