The Asian Bankers Association is soliciting suggestions on policy issues which ABA believe are of current concern to members and should therefore be addressed by the ABA Policy Advocacy Committee in its work program going forward.
The ABA Policy Advocacy Committee was created by the ABA Board of Directors in 1999 to discuss, develop and advocate positions to be taken by the association on policy issues affecting its members and the banking industry in general.
Since its creation, the Committee has done considerable work in several areas, including (a) local currency bond market development; (b) the development of domestic credit rating agencies; (c) the Basel Framework; (d) promoting regional convergence toward IFRS; (e) insolvency law and informal workouts; (f) corporate governance; (g) financial inclusion and microfinance; (h) credit reporting systems; (i) global financial crisis, (j) lessons from the sovereign debt issue in Greece; (k) FATCA implications; (l) promoting financial literacy; (m) promoting organizational transformation; (n) Islamic banking; (o) promoting digital transformation; (p) Promoting cooperation in cyber security management; and (q) sharing information and best practices in ESG strategies. Through these efforts, the ABA was able to make significant contributions to the work of regional and international policy-making and regulatory bodies.
For the year 2026, the Committee agreed to focus its policy advocacy efforts on sharing experiences and best practices on the following policy issues:
(1) Ethical Banking and Corporate Governance: (a) Strengthening customer trust through stronger ethical banking principles and governance reform; (b) Balancing shareholder value with social responsibility, financial inclusion, and ESG principles; and (c) Strengthening board accountability and corporate governance to prevent misconduct and strengthen ethical banking practices.
(2) Open Banking and Customer Data Privacy Protection: (a) Open banking to foster innovation, to improve customer experience, and to encourage cross-industry collaboration; (b) API ecosystem as backbone of open banking business model, particularly on challenges and solutions on technical, operational, regulatory aspects; and (c) Governance structure and operating model on protecting customer data privacy in an open banking context
(3) Money Mule Account Issue in Banking: (a) Challenges and best practices on how banks can effectively control and prevent fraudulent accounts, enhancing overall security and trust in the banking system; (b) Archetypes and emerging threats related to money mule accounts in banking; (c) Strategies to enhance money mule detection mechanisms through AI and machine learning; and (d) Promoting more active engagement with regulators across countries to provide regulatory incentives and relevant support in helping banks address fraud/money mules account issue.
(4) Cyber Protection as a Essential Risk Management Tool: (a) Today’s cyber threat landscape in the financial services sector; (b) Cyber insurance as a critical component of ensuring businesses remain resilient, inclusive, and future-ready.
The ABA would therefore appreciate it very much if members or interested professional parties could kindly share views on the priority areas for the Committee’s work program for 2026, by filling out the Suggestion Form, and returning it to us via email at aba@aba.org.tw, preferably before January 31, 2026.
The suggestions will be submitted to the Committee – along with those from other members – for consideration during its meeting to be held in conjunction with the meeting of the ABA Planning Committee on 11-12 February 2026 in Maldives that will discuss preparations for the 42nd ABA General Meeting and Conference scheduled to take place in the latter part of 2026.
