Overview

In accordance with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), criminal acts that occur within the financial services sector and financial crimes attract the close attention of the majority of countries around the globe. Said crimes range from basic acts of theft or fraud committed by ill-intentioned individuals to large-scale operations. Unfortunately, financial crime has now taken on a whole new dimension through rapidly advancing digital technologies.^[1]

Given that the core role of financial institutions is to facilitate financial and monetary transactions, said institutions are very much prone to being utilized by criminals who are looking to finance their criminal activity.^[2] In this regard, any assets that are the proceeds of crime may appear legitimate, while the origins of said illegally obtained assets may be concealed.^[3] Bank Indonesia (“BI”) has already identified several forms of financial crimes that are likely to disrupt Indonesia’s financial services sector, as follows:^[4]