The Bank of Thailand, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group launched the Bangkok Blueprint for Fraud-Resilient Financial Services on Wednesday, Oct. 14, giving countries a policy framework for addressing cyber-enabled fraud in financial services.
The Blueprint sets out 12 considerations under five pillars: national strategies and legal oversight; prevention, detection, response and recovery; use of existing risk and enforcement tools; domestic and cross-border cooperation; and consumer protection and resilience. The Bank of Thailand said countries can adapt the framework to their own circumstances. Its scope includes national oversight, enforcement resources and consumer resilience alongside measures to prevent and respond to fraud.
The IMF–World Bank paper presents the Blueprint as policy considerations for public authorities and financial-sector operators assessing weaknesses and planning responses. The paper says the expansion of digital services has improved access and efficiency, while fraud can cause losses for households and businesses and weaken trust in those services. It places the policy background against the 2018 IMF–World Bank Bali Fintech Agenda.
The paper says responses must involve more than financial firms. The paper calls for financial authorities to coordinate with online and telecommunications sectors, where scams can be organized before funds move through the financial system. The framework combines prevention and detection with response and recovery, covering both efforts to reduce risks and actions after fraud occurs.
A separate companion publication, The Bangkok Blueprint in Action, examines regional experience and policy lessons from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It describes recurring patterns that include manipulating victims, using social media in scam tactics and moving funds rapidly. The IMF–World Bank paper presents the Blueprint itself; the companion publication focuses on how fraud-related policy issues appear in the region.
