National Bank of Moldova to implement project on monitoring money laundering risks

Chisinau, 20 April /MOLDPRES/ - The National Bank of Moldova (BNM) will implement a solution of integrated information technology (IT), meant to automate and optimize the processes of monitoring the risks of money laundering and transparency of the stockholders of the banks supervised. The project’s launch event took place in the online regime today.   

The IT solution, which is a first-ever event for the region, will be implemented with the support of the Financial Sector Transparency Activity project, financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).   

„The close monitoring of the banking sector, the identification and assessment of the risks inherent and the implementation of the measures to attenuate the risks represent not only important tasks, but real challenges. In the conditions when the financial market is more and more dynamic, prompt actions on behalf of the supervisor are necessary. The large number of transactions, a huge volume of data represents a big provocation, as they no longer can be processed efficiently and manually, based on patterns. Therefore, the automated processing of data is necessary, based on modern analytical platforms for big data, which is to enhance the supervising,‘’ BNM Governor Octavian Armasu said.      

The official stressed that the new IT solution, due to be implemented at BNM, was another step in the process of the banking sector’s modernization and aligning with the international standards of supervision and transparency – a precondition for the country’s economic development, for the benefit of the entire society.   

For his part, the director of the USAID Mission in Moldova, Scott Hocklander, said that it was about ‘’a very important solution, of the latest generation, which will enhance the capacity of the National Bank of Moldova to prevent and combat the financial crimes.’’ ‘’In accordance with the latest opinion polls, the corruption and money laundering represents a quite big problem for Moldova. The financing of terrorism also represents a very high risk not only for the financial stability, but also for the state’s security and the residents’ well-being. This partnership has the goal to combat the phenomenon and minimize the risks for the banking system, establishing also a better transparency,’’ Stott Hocklander added.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that the overall sum used in schemes of money laundering globally amounts to two trillion dollars annually, which accounts for two per cent of the Gross Domestic Product at the world level. Financial crimes take place practically in all countries of the world; yet, their social and economic impact is much higher in the states with weak economy, such as Moldova.    

photo: bnm.md