KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 4): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim today gave a stern reminder to financial institutions that if they choose not to comply with rules and regulations, the central bank will publish their names and offences come Jan 1, 2018.

"Effective January 2018, the bank will publish enforcement actions taken against financial institutions and intermediaries for non-compliances with rules and regulations," he said during his keynote address at the 9th Annual International Conference on Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing (IFCTF) 2017 today.

Among those present in the audience at the event were chief executive officers and key personnel of some of the country's most prominent financial institutions.

The enforcement action taken by BNM on errant financial institutions was earlier reported in March this year, but today the governor reiterated his stance on the matter.

"All penalties and compounds that we impose [on financial institutions] will be made transparent and the names of the financial institutions and the nature of the offences will be published on our website, so that the public knows the type of breaches and the amount of fines and compound we imposed.

"We have given the financial institutions ample time to prepare their people and the systems for this," he told reporters at the sidelines of the conference today.

Given that some of the financial institutions in Malaysia are public listed entities, the governor said BNM will work together with Bursa Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia on the matter.

"We will work together with all regulatory agencies, the Securities Commission, Bursa and other enforcement agencies as well," he said.

Between 2015 and June 2017, BNM has imposed a total of RM115.8 million of fines and penalties on institutions under its purview for breaching regulations and affecting the integrity of the financial system.

IFCTF 2017 is jointly organised by the Asian Institute of Finance and the Compliance Officers' Networking Group and fully supported by BNM and the Securities Commission Malaysia.