Catch Simon Leung of China CITIC Bank International at the 2017 Banking Forum in Hong Kong

He will join the panel discussion on banks and fintechs.

Simon Leung is the head of AML at China CITIC Bank International. He has over 14 years of experience in AML, covering both the public sector and banking industry.

Before moving to the banking industry, Leung had served the Hong Kong Police for over 27 years with almost two-thirds of them dedicated to financial crime and intelligence investigation. He was the officer-in-charge of the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit for two years, during which he was primarily responsible to examine over 30,000 suspicious reports received by the unit.

He had also represented Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering to participate in the IMF-led mutual evaluation assessment on Cook Islands AML Regime in February 2004. He was a Detective Chief Inspector when he left the police force in January 2011.

Leung was the regional head of ML investigation & analytic, Asia Pacific, HSBC from January 2011 to August 2014. He played two major roles in HSBC. He was the first money laundering reporting officer for HSBC HK under the AMLO. He also oversaw transaction monitoring, sanction hit review, and ML investigation for 19 countries in Asia Pacific.

Leung will be one of the panelists who will discuss about banks and fintechs at the upcoming Banking Forum 2017 in Hong Kong. Find out more about him in this short Q&A:

What are your previous experiences and positions held that contributed to who you are as a banker/financial services expert today?
I was a police officer for 28 years. I specialised in money laundering and commercial crime investigation. I was also a qualified Enforcement Expert to assess a country's AML regime when I worked in the JFIU. The banking industry has a great demand for professionals with similar experience and background. Hence, HSBC offered me the opportunity to start my second career as an AML professional practitioner in 2011.

What are your key business philosophies?
I strongly support the adoption of 'Risk Based Approach' for AML control. It allows flexibility for an AML officer to build a pragmatic defence system.

Can you give us a glimpse of what you will share at the panel discussion at the Banking Forum in Hong Kong? What can you say about banks and fintechs in Hong Kong and in the region?
I believe fintech brings new opportunities as well as new risks to banks. As a professional compliance officer, I shall keep myself abreast with new innovation and technology and advise the business unit on how to apply the new technology within regulation framework.

In terms of fintech development, the Hong Kong regulator has realised Hong Kong may be a bit behind the competing countries in the region. Our regulator has been working hard to create a more fintech-friendly environment.

The 2017 Banking Forum will be held on July 26 at the Conrad Hong Kong.

If you are interested to attend, you may contact Nikki Quiniquini at [email protected] or at +65 3158 1386 ext 238.

To read the post-event coverages of the Retail Banking Forums held this year, click on the links below:

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