Description

About the Seminar

FATF President, T. Raja Kumar, will share what he sees as contemporary issues impacting the fight against fraud and transnational crime generally  and outline ways forward to mount a more effective response. He will set out the current reality, where fraud is rapidly growing in scale and  complexity, and highlight areas for improvement to more effectively tackle this phenomenon. Indeed, in the wake of the COVID pandemic, with more working from home, e-banking and transacting online, criminals have seized the opportunity to exploit this space. This has resulted in a sharp upswing in cyber-enabled fraud, with a major UK think-tank describing it as a national security challenge. Mr Raja will also discuss the work of the Financial Action Taskforce and its strategic partners, and address the need to prioritise asset recovery and the challenges posed by virtual assets.

About the Speaker

T. Raja Kumar is the incoming President of the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF), and will assume office for a two-year term on 1 July 2022. Mr Raja led Singapore’s delegation to the FATF from January 2015 to June 2022, and was the co-lead for Singapore’s National Inter- Agency Committee on Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism. He co-led Singapore’s efforts for its FATF Mutual Evaluation from 2015 to 2016, and drove Singapore’s high level of involvement at the FATF. He has served as a FATF Steering Group member since June 2018, under three different Presidents.

He is currently also Senior Advisor (International) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), a role he assumed in 2021. He advises and helps the  Ministry on international policy development, partnerships and engagements. Previously, he was Deputy Secretary (International & Training) from 2015 to 2021, where he drove MHA’s international policy development, partnerships, and engagements, including with strategic partners such as INTERPOL and the United Nations. Mr Raja has served in MHA and the Singapore Police Force for over 35 years in a wide range of senior leadership roles, including as pioneer Chief Executive of the Casino Regulatory Authority.

Mr Raja was awarded Singapore’s National Public Administration Gold medal (2021), the Public Administration Silver medal (2007) and the Public Administration Bronze medal (1996) for his strong leadership and contributions. He was conferred the National Order of Merit by the Government of France (2017), carrying the rank of Chevalier (Knight). In recognition of his contributions to the casino regulatory community, he was made a  Lifetime Trustee of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (2011). Mr Raja also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

He holds an LLB (Hons) from NUS Law Faculty and an M Phil (Criminology & Law) from  Cambridge University. He also attended the Advanced  Management program at Harvard Business School.