Supported by the MAS and Singapore’s major banks, the project seeks to help wealth managers address money laundering risks with new AI and machine learning capabilities.
A multi-disciplinary team from NTU Singapore (Nanyang Technological University) is embarking on a research project to help the wealth management industry combat money laundering.
Supported by the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore)’s AIDA (Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics) Grant under the Financial Sector Development Fund, and backed by UBS, the project seeks to develop new AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning capabilities to help institutions detect unusual money flows or transactions that might be signs of money laundering.
An expert panel and working committee, comprising industry leaders and experts from the MAS, UBS, DBS, UOB, OCBC and the CAD (Commercial Affairs Department), will provide strategic guidance to the project.
“Many banks have been applying the same concepts in system-based AML Transaction Monitoring for years, that generate a high number of false positives,” said UBS managing director Mabel Ha, who chairs the expert panel. “Within this project we want to seek new and practical ways for wealth management institutions to apply AI and machine learning techniques to achieve superior results.”
The NTU team – consisting of experts in wealth management computer science, data science and AI – is also seeking to create an innovative technological prototype that can facilitate real-time intelligence sharing among institutions.
NTU’s Wealth Management Institute will organise forums and dialogues from Q3 2019 to share the research findings in stages.
“With new technological advances and paradigms, the tools available to money laundering perpetrators may disrupt the financial institutions’ existing AML mechanisms, said the Institute’s CEO, Ms Foo Mee Har. “With firm support from MAS and the industry for this project, I am confident that we will be able to enhance the industry’s AML capabilities and knowledge.”
