Fraud Without Borders: Real-Time Payments, Real-Time Crime

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Fraud in Southeast Asia no longer operates in isolation or as a simple supply chain; it is a complex ecosystem, with mule accounts functioning as infrastructure. Funds are fragmented and routed across borders in seconds - often beyond recovery before institutions can intervene. What appears as a single authorised transfer may be one node in a coordinated regional operation. 

At the same time, ASEAN’s payment systems are integrating at speed. Settlement is near‑instant. Connectivity across Malaysia, Singapore and the wider region is deepening. The systems are regional, yet enforcement remains national and supervisory authority stops at borders. While cross-border law enforcement coordination is improving, the speed of payments still outpaces intervention, and once funds cross a jurisdiction, the probability of recovery drops sharply. 

As cross‑border integration accelerates, this gap is becoming a defining pressure point for institutions across ASEAN - particularly in Malaysia and Singapore - with implications for governance, liability exposure and supervisory scrutiny across the entire financial ecosystem. 

This session brings together senior fraud and compliance leaders to move beyond identifying the problems and toward practical solutions. We will examine what a meaningful, networked response must look like, exploring how technology tools, public-private partnerships, intelligent data sharing, and a whole-of-ecosystem approach are essential as regional connectivity deepens. 

Key Themes 

• Fraud as Infrastructure: Regional mule networks and cross‑border fund cycling at industrial scale. 

• Integration vs Sovereignty: Real‑time ASEAN connectivity confronting nationally bounded authority. 

• Shrinking Recovery Window: Once funds cross borders, the probability of intervention collapses. 

• Frameworks Under Strain: Liability for APP fraud and the moral hazard of existing frameworks. 

• Coordination Imperative: What cross‑border data‑sharing, decisioning and governance architecture must evolve.