ABA ROLI Hosts the National Financial Crime Centre of Malaysia in D.C.

On November 2, 2022, an 11-member delegation from the National Financial Crime Centre (NFCC), led by the Director General, DATO’ Seri Haji Mustafar Bin Haji Ali, visited ABA ROLI’s offices in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the ongoing Transnational Anti-Money Laundering Assistance (TAMLA) Program – Training to Leverage Big Data Analytics (AML Big Data) program, with a specific focus on program achievements so far, such as NFCC participation and completion in ABA ROLI’s Moodle e-learning course. The e-learning course contains four modules covering the basics of big data, basics of data analytics, what is Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), and data management. ABA ROLI and the NFCC discussed upcoming activities under the AML Big Data program, including virtual training sessions and joint-Training of the Trainers workshop, targeting both the NFCC and Thailand’s FIU.

In 2020, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) began implementing the AML Big Data Program in Southeast Asia and North Africa. Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (State/INL), the program aims to increase FIUs and investigators’ capacity to use available OSINT data to identify money laundering trends, detect money laundering, and bolster investigations and prosecution of these types of crimes. The program is multi-jurisdictional, implemented throughout Malaysia, Thailand, and Tunisia.

In Malaysia, ABA ROLI commenced its partnership with the NFCC in 2020 under this program to provide training to NFCC and OSINT officials. At the start of the program, ABA ROLI and the NFCC formed a Working Group, which meets quarterly, to review progress of the implementation of the program. The NFCC has considerable convening powers amongst 12 AML actors in Malaysia and serves as an inter-agency coordinating body to assist in operations against financial crimes, including the management of seized and forfeited assets linked to financial crimes.  

During the delegation visit, ABA ROLI and the NFCC held a signing ceremony for a Letter of Understanding that outlines future collaboration and capacity building between the two organizations. DATO’ Seri Haji Mustafar Bin Haji Ali, the Director General of the NFCC signed on behalf of the NFCC and Scott Carlson, the ABA’s Associate Executive Director for the Center of Global Programs signed on behalf of ABA ROLI.

Learn more about ABA ROLI’s work across Asia & the Pacific.