KUALA LUMPUR (March 20): The number of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) submitted by reporting institutions stood at 317,435 in 2023, up 31% from the 242,914 STRs recorded in the previous year, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

The reporting institutions included financial institutions, non-bank financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions.

The number of STRs received in 2023 is more than double 2020's tally, according to the BNM Annual Report 2023.

Fraud remained the top suspected offence, accounting for 23% of the total STRs reported, it said. The others were mainly suspected money laundering, tax offences and organised crimes.

The central bank said it has been collaborating closely with supervisory authorities and regularly engaged with reporting institutions to improve STR reporting mechanisms and quality.

This is undertaken through individual or industry-wide engagement sessions to improve awareness on the expected standards of suspicious transaction reporting, and to share about emerging risks and modus operandi of prevalent high-risk crimes.

BNM's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) revealed that about 71% of the disclosures made to domestic law enforcement agencies and foreign FIUs during the year relate to high-risk crimes.

High-risk crimes include fraud, corruption, organised crimes, smuggling, drug trafficking, as well as terrorism/terrorism financing and proliferation financing.

Investigations resulted in the arrests of more than 100 individuals, seizure of criminal proceeds and revenue recovery of above RM290 million, it said. "The disclosures also supported the monitoring and investigation of cases related to national security matters,” it added.

Don't miss the other highlights of the BNM Annual Report 2023. Read the articles here.