The second day of “International Finance and Banking Summit 2026: Global Financial Integration of Turkic States” took place in Baku, Trend reports.
The summit provided a high-level platform to accelerate the integration of the financial systems of regional and Turkic-speaking states into the global financial space.
The event was supported by the Council of Banking Associations of Turkic States, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Banks Association, the banking associations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Türkiye, the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan, as well as other partner organizations.
The summit discussed key trends in the global banking and financial sector for 2026, regional cooperation, digital transformation, payment and settlement systems, open banking, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, compliance, Islamic finance, green finance, and investment opportunities.
The second day's program continued with panels dedicated to cybersecurity, the fight against fraud, and compliance ecosystems.
The 7th panel, titled "Fraud Prevention & Cybersecurity", discussed existing solutions against phishing fraud, digital fraud statistics in the banking sector, security issues in the era of AI and the application of biometric platforms in the financial sector.
The panel featured presentations on "Measures to combat fraudulent operations", "Digital fraud in the banking sector: statistics, trends and regulatory plans", "The beauty and ugliness of AI: security in the age of hype" and "The benefits of using a biometric platform in the financial sector. VisionLabs' Experience in Kazakhstan".
Besides, the 8th panel titled "Building Effective Compliance Ecosystems: Global Trends & Regional Insights" discussed the role of compliance ecosystems in mitigating macro-regional risks, building compliance systems in Central Asia, strengthening financial integrity, and human oversight and data accountability in the age of AI.
The panel featured presentations on the topics of "Regulatory compliance ecosystems as a factor in mitigating macro-regional risks: experience and strategic vision", "Building effective compliance ecosystems in Central Asia", "Strengthening financial integrity through sustainable compliance ecosystems", "The Future of compliance ecosystems: from regulatory obligation to strategic value" and "Compliance in the age of AI: accountability, data and human oversight".
Speaking at the event, Chief Specialist of the Payment Systems and Product Development Department of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), Elvin Juvarov said that work is underway to establish a centralized anti-fraud ecosystem at the national level in Azerbaijan.
According to him, the main goal is to form a centralized anti-fraud ecosystem at the country level.
"We mentioned this issue last year. Discussions are currently underway on the implementation of this strategy. It's planned to form a centralized system and, in parallel, improve the internal systems of financial institutions. The goal is to ensure information exchange, establish integration with the centralized system, and create a unified anti-fraud ecosystem," he noted.
Juvarov highlighted that the process of preparing unified requirements and control mechanisms in the anti-fraud field is already underway.
"It's planned to present these mechanisms to the market by the end of the year. Currently, preparatory work is underway. At the initial stage, certain control mechanisms and recommendations will be presented to the market, and at the end, it's planned to form unified requirements," he added.
The CBA official noted that work is also underway to strengthen information exchange in the sector.
"A working group has been established for this purpose. Currently, work is ongoing to further improve information exchange from a technological perspective and partially automate the process," he stressed.
Juvarov said that awareness-raising activities are also one of the priority areas. According to him, the CBA regularly organizes trainings for students at various universities and educational institutions.
"Information is provided on types of fraud, methods of combating fraud, and awareness-raising mechanisms during the trainings," he pointed out.
He also revealed that the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) develops new recommendations for banks regarding minimum data indicators.
According to him, in the anti-fraud field, the main focus at the initial stage should be on the formation of regulatory requirements and control mechanisms. At the same time, banks should strengthen their internal anti-fraud structures in parallel.
"The reality is that in many organizations, except leading banks, anti-fraud structures haven't yet been fully formed. In most cases, these functions are divided between different departments and are not systematically managed. This reduces efficiency. First of all, the human resource base should be strengthened, and separate anti-fraud structures should be established because each organization should form its own anti-fraud policy and processes separately. An unstructured approach is ineffective," he noted.
Juvarov also touched upon the importance of "data governance" issues. According to him, the CBA plans to give banks recommendations on the application of minimum data indicators meeting relevant international practice.
He pointed out that it's important to collect various types of data to connect devices to the customer.
"For this purpose, widely used indicators include MAC addresses. However, in cases such as rooting or jailbreaking devices, the possibility of changing the MAC address can reduce the reliability of the information. Therefore, the use of various data combinations is considered necessary," the official explained.
The chief specialist added that it's important to promote the transition to biometric authentication methods to prevent device replacement and similar risks. According to him, the existing enhanced customer authentication methods cannot fully prevent fraud.
"SMS codes and card information are now widely available, and experience shows that users sometimes share this information voluntarily or unknowingly as a result of phishing attacks. Therefore, the application of biometric authentication methods can act as a more reliable defense mechanism," Juvarov emphasized.
Director of the Financial Monitoring Policy and Regulation Department of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), Zaur Hajili emphasized that a unified compliance (activities in accordance with legislation and regulations) ecosystem is essential for the region's financial stability.
He noted that in modern times, it is no longer possible for supervisory and regulatory bodies to operate in isolation, and the traditional "hard supervisor" model is outdated. According to him, the rapid development of fintech technologies, virtual assets, and artificial intelligence in particular necessitates a change in the regulatory approach.
Hajili pointed out that there are differences in compliance approaches on a macro-regional scale, including the countries of Central Asia and the Caspian basin.
"These differences are manifested both in the regulatory framework and in the implementation mechanisms, and as a result, regulatory arbitrage, as well as 'gray zones', are formed. This increases the country risk for international investors and first-tier correspondent banks," the bank representative explained.
According to him, investors no longer evaluate individual countries, but the region as a whole, and look at financial stability on a regional scale.
"Therefore, it is important to form a single 'compliance' ecosystem. This ecosystem should act as an adaptive environment where international standards, corporate and compliance culture, high-tech solutions, and synchronized rules between countries are applied," he mentioned.
The director of the department emphasized that modern "compliance" rules should no longer be perceived as a burden, but rather as a factor that creates competitive advantage.
"This approach is based on four main pillars, the first of which is international standards, in particular the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) recommendations on combating money laundering, and a risk-based approach," Hajili clarified.
He said that since the Azerbaijani economy is an integral part of the global economic system, elements of a number of European Union directives are also taken into account and applied in the country's legislation. According to him, against the backdrop of the complexity of the current geopolitical environment and international sanctions regimes, the approach of supervisory and regulatory authorities should be even more decisive and principled.
"The financial system must comply with the integrity of the global financial system and be kept away from systemic risks. The established rules and requirements are not restrictions, but rather transparent rules of the game, which creates an advantage for large investors and partners," the official announced.
He added that the second main pillar is regulatory digital solutions.
"The region has developed a unique experience of supervisory and regulatory bodies, a large amount of data is collected, and manual analysis of this data is no longer possible. For this reason, the application of SupTech technologies is expanding," Hajili also said.
According to him, the goal of modern innovations is not to limit them, but to ensure their safe development. In this context, cybersecurity, the fight against money laundering, as well as the protection of consumer and investor rights are particularly priorities.
The department director highlighted that within the framework of the new regulatory approach, innovative technologies are tested using special regimes, which creates a favorable environment for the introduction of technologies in the country.
Hajili added that the third and most important pillar is the culture of compliance, which is a key component of corporate ethics.
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Kazakhstan Association for Compliance and Business Ethics, Dauren Akshalov, in turn, said that trust and digital transformation in Central Asia are becoming the foundation of strategic development.
Akshalov noted that compliance has already become a strategic factor, as international investors, in addition to financial indicators, pay particular attention to the presence of a compliance system within companies. According to him, the compliance model in Kazakhstan is widely applied not only in financial institutions but also in the quasi-public sector.
The chairman noted that important steps in this direction include incorporating the institution of compliance into the country’s anti-corruption legislation and establishing independent compliance departments within national companies. At the same time, it was emphasized that requirements for compliance with antitrust legislation are also enshrined in law.
According to Akshalov, one of the main problems in the region is that compliance is often merely a formality. He noted that compliance on paper is not enough, and that direct commitment from leadership – the “tone from the top” – plays a decisive role in ensuring actual compliance:
“Trust is becoming a new form of capital in the region, and compliance is the primary tool for building and maintaining that trust. All Central Asian nations are parties to the UN Convention against Corruption and undergo mutual evaluations on anti-money laundering within the framework of the Eurasian Group (EAG).”
He noted that the region has made significant progress in aligning with FATF standards and is receiving positive assessments in this area.
In his speech, he also touched on the rapid development of digital assets and the crypto industry. He noted that crypto exchanges and pilot projects are being developed within the Astana International Financial Center in Kazakhstan, and new requirements for digital assets are being incorporated into anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations.
Furthermore, Akshalov stressed that the implementation of electronic money and digital tracking of public funds is already underway in many countries, and this is an important step toward increasing transparency and preventing abuse.
He added that Uzbekistan is also developing an international financial center along these lines, modeled after Astana, and that activities will be regulated based on the English legal system.
Meanwhile, it was noted that Kyrgyzstan has adopted a new anti-corruption law and that reforms are continuing in the region.
The first day of the summit was marked by the signing of a number of cooperation documents. Thus, the Azerbaijan Fintech Association and the Central Asia Fintech Association signed a memorandum of cooperation.
Within the framework of the summit, a memorandum was also signed between VISA and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan.
In addition, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Azerbaijan Banks Association and the Retail Networks Development Public Union.
The summit brought together banking and finance sector leaders, regulators, international financial institutions, technology providers, startups, investors, and international experts.
