EY Cyprus sponsored the 2nd Cyprus Anti-Fraud Conference

Financial fraud, money laundering, bribes, market abuse. These are just some of the types of financial crime with which businesses, banks and organizations are confronted. Financial Crime remains one of the main systemic risks to the global economy, and the consequences observed in the Financial Services sector have a significant impact on both the cost and the operation of businesses.

EY Cyprus sponsored the 2nd Cyprus Anti-Fraud Conference that took place on Friday, March 15th, 2019, at the Hilton Park Hotel in Nicosia. The conference was organized by IMH and the Cyprus Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

The 2nd Cyprus Anti-Fraud Conference, hosted a stellar lineup of international speakers who presented the latest developments in the industry. Among them, three EY professionals shared their insights and knowledge of modern fraud avoidance techniques to improve trust, transparency and accountability in the wider spectrum of the services industry. Nicolas Pavlou, Associate Partner at the Financial Services Audit, Forensics and Integrity team of EY Cyprus presented the EY Global Fraud Survey and Cyprus specific results. The survey contained insights from business leaders on the risks and challenges organizations face in fighting fraud and corruption in an era of significant technological advance.

Matt Reed, Senior Manager at the Compliance Technology Advisory team of EY UK, presented the topic of “Technology and Financial Crime”, referring to the proper and efficient management of the risks and the ways to deal with them. In particular, as the value for conducting a business risk assessment process changes, more quantitative and substantiated approaches are required, which will lead to more specific results. “Digital Identities” was the topic presented by Manuel Delgado Colmenero, Associate Partner and Leader of the Financial Crime team of EY Spain. He argued how a coherent approach to management of digital identity is needed across the financial services industry to enable identification and authentication of customers throughout the industry.

Nicolas Pavlou, Associate Partner, Financial Services Industry – Audit, Forensics & Integrity, of EY Cyprus, commented: “New financial crime and fraud typologies continue to emerge and criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their approach with the use of technology. Innovation has led to the growth of business models that exhibit specific vulnerabilities to financial crime, such as virtual currencies, digital exchanges, administrators and wallet providers. In order to be fully effective, the approach needs to incorporate a comprehensive and tailored response to these risks in a fast-changing environment.”