IN the fight against fraud, bribery and corruption, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd (Kenanga Group) is strengthening its efforts to raise awareness in its fifth annual Fraud Awareness Week (FAW).

       Themed ‘Reinforcing Ethical Values through Regulatory Dynamism’, it is held yearly in conjunction with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) International FAW.

       While the FAW is the highlight of a month-long virtual fraud awareness campaign, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad’s group chief regulatory and compliance officer, Maheswari Kanniah, stated that such efforts are continuous and are practised group-wide, all year round.

       It is important to be on constant alert, as instances of fraud and corruption could cause great impact to the overall business growth and hence result in unwarranted costs.

       Kenanga Group proactively promotes anti-fraud awareness throughout its organisation by building awareness through action, including sending reminders of dos and don’ts, conducting regular e-learning and e-tests to ensure that employees go through the policy and procedures as part of their key performance indicators, as well as carrying out ad hoc tests through staging phishing emails to identify employees with the need for extra training.

       The FAW campaign complements Kenanga Group’s policies, frameworks and internal controls while emphasising the need for businesses to work against corruption in all its forms. This is in line with the United Nations Global Compact’s 10th Principle and is a vital part of the integration of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of the group’s operations.

       All these serve to embed good business conduct and high standards of integrity, to operate ethically and transparently, and ultimately to comply with the applicable laws and regulations, she said.

       “With the recent spike in cybercrimes, triggered by the sudden shift towards online transactions due to the pandemic, this year’s campaign has been bolstered with an emphasis on cyber security.

       “To safeguard against this concern, Kenanga Group continuously works with the regulators, solution providers and the public to raise awareness, tighten controls and enhance measures to manage its risks and exposure,” Maheswari said.

       This year’s FAW brings together over 500 internal and industry participants to join the fight against fraud by engaging in interactive games, quizzes and seminars that are designed as part of a learning and educational programme on trends and practices surrounding fraud prevention and detection.

       On this, Maheswari is of the view that learning and education would be more effective if incorporated with entertaining and interactive elements.

       “People would be more willing to engage and participate if they could relate and appreciate the subject matter.

       “It is for this reason that Kenanga Group adopted interactive games and quizzes in the FAW programme so that the anti-fraud message could be imprinted in the people’s mind more effectively.”

       This year’s FAW also incorporates lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic by emphasising cybersecurity and cyber fraud.

       According to a recent study by ACFE in partnership with Grant Thornton, titled ‘The Next Normal: Preparing for a Post-Pandemic Fraud Landscape’, 51% of organisations have uncovered more fraud since the onset of the pandemic, with 71% expecting the level of fraud impacting their organisations to increase over the next year.

       38% of organisations have also increased their budget for anti-fraud technology, said ACFE Asia Pacific development head Ganesh Thuraisingham, adding that “prevention is better than cure.”

       As more and more businesses, including financial institutions, start to offer many new products and services online, fraudsters will definitely find loopholes to take advantage of the digital shift that has been happening.

       As such, there is a need to be proactive to act against that and continuously strive to stay ahead of fraudsters.

       Ganesh stated, “Fraud is not just about fraudsters and fraud fighters. It is never-ending and doesn’t just happen within financial institutions or organisations. It’s in your daily life, so don’t take it lightly.

       “Everyone needs basic awareness and knowledge to sniff out fraud, which can help nip it in the bud and reduce the money, time and effort involved once fraud occurs.”

       Ganesh added that for the international FAW, the ACFE has changed the way it delivers the programmes, such as coming up with guides and videos to improve awareness and prevent fraud.

       He lauded the creativity and different approaches by Kenanga Group to get people engaged in its FAW each year, from taking a gamification approach to organising the virtual opening ceremony.

       Maheswari further said that it is key for Kenanga Group to proactively develop policies and concrete programmes to address fraud and corruption.

       “[That said,] policy and procedures provide guidance and are not meant to be static. People should always be diligent in detecting and preventing financial crime,” she added.

       Ensuring continuous awareness on the subject matter is crucial and everyone should always be alert, as well as stay current to prevent falling victim to fraudsters.

       Overall, it takes everyone in the organisation to align themselves and be responsible and accountable when it comes to upholding an anti-fraud organisational culture.