The Idiot Banking Guide

Imagine this.  You're happily at work, or doing your chores at home, or maybe even outside.  Then suddenly your phone rings.  If you received the call from your mobile phone, you look at the number and it shows some unknown number.  Curious, you answered the call.  A machine reads out the following message, or a variation of this message.    "Ini panggilan daripada XYZ Bank.  Anda mempunyai tunggakan baki kad kredit tidak berbayar sebanyak RM5,000 untuk tiga bulan.  Untuk bercakap dengan seorang pegawai, sila tekan 9". Or in English "This is a call from XYZ Bank.  You have credit card balance amounting to RM5,000 unpaid for 3 months.  To speak with an officer, please press 9".   Or in even more plain English, this is a scam, better known as Macau scam. The Scam Upon receiving this call, many people just panicked and pressed "9" without thinking.  Then, they would be led to a person posing as a banker who would be "concerned&

Reuters had reported on 30 Oct 2019 that CIMB and RHB had initiated mass closure of Iranian-linked accounts maintained at their banks which had ignited a furore.  In another report by The Star , carrying news from The Straits Times on the same day, had highlighted the same action had also impacted several other nationalities, namely Algerians, Iraqis, Nigerians, Syrians, Ukrainians and Yemenis. While no reasons were given, Reuters had pointed that this action could be linked to a notification from Bank Negara on the statement from Financial Action Task Force (FATF).  July this year, FATF had reminded their members to enhance their due diligence process on Iranians.  Straits Times had reached the same conclusion, except they had included US State Sponsors of Terrorism list .   FATF (some of us call them as Fat F) is the global watchdog on anti-money laundering.  In fact, nearly every iteration of anti-money laundering laws in every country is a derivative from FATF recommendati