Bangkok Blueprint sets out cross-border response to digital financial fraud
The IMF and World Bank Group developed the framework with the Bank of Thailand, setting out 12 considerations for national authorities.
A framework aimed at helping countries address cyber-enabled fraud in digital finance was unveiled in Bangkok on 14 October 2026 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group. The Bangkok Blueprint was launched alongside Thai authorities at the institutions’ 2026 Annual Meetings.
Developed jointly with the Bank of Thailand, the blueprint is designed to help authorities identify vulnerabilities and organise responses across national borders and different sectors. It recommends that countries adapt its 12 considerations to their own laws, institutions and market conditions.
The considerations fall into five pillars: legal and strategic foundations; the life cycle of fraud mitigation; use of existing risk-mitigation and enforcement frameworks; cooperation within countries and across borders; and resilience and protection for consumers.
The IMF and World Bank said wider access and efficiency gains from digital finance had been accompanied by faster, more extensive and more sophisticated fraud. They also reported growing links between cyber-enabled fraud and transnational organised crime, citing INTERPOL’s ranking of such fraud among the most threatening crimes worldwide.
With fraud schemes operating through social media, e-commerce, telecommunications networks and digital platforms, the blueprint calls for clearly assigned accountability and prompt collaboration between public agencies and private businesses. Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said no country or institution could address the challenge alone. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva emphasised international cooperation to maintain confidence in digital finance.
