Regulators are behind the curve in the fight against cybercrime in the digital economy and can't stop high-tech fraudsters alone, says an NGO official and former chairman of the Monetary Authority of Macau.

"The challenge for financial stability is huge, not just (for) any particular country, but also regionally and globally," Anselmo Teng, co-chair of the Alliance for Financial Stability with Information Technology (AFS-IT), told CNBC at the East Tech West in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China.

"Regulators worldwide have to do something about it, but they can't do it alone," Teng said. "They have to work with the industry, the banking sector as well as the technology companies, to come up with good solutions to address this problem."

Cybercriminals exploit new openings as regulators scramble to keep up with financial innovations such as digital payments and robotics in the fund management industry. But Teng is hopeful about growing efforts to protect worldwide financial security.