Taiwan Taiwan

New Documents

The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering published a mutual evaluation report following its on-site visit, summarizing and analyzing the money laundering and terrorist financing regime of Taiwan with the Financial Action Task Force 40 Recommendations as well as its effectiveness.

Taiwan announced a memorandum of understanding between the Bureau of Investigation and the Financial Information Authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State to strengthen cooperation for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing.

Enforcement Actions

0 Items Found


Important Facts

  • The U.S. Department of State labels Taiwan as a jurisdiction of primary concern. Taiwan’s modern financial sector, strategic location in Asia-Pacific international shipping lanes, expertise in high-technology production and role as an international trade hub make it vulnerable to transnational crimes, including money laundering, drug trafficking, telecom fraud and trade fraud. Domestic money laundering is generally related to tax evasion, drug trafficking, public corruption and a range of economic crimes. Official channels exist to remit funds, which greatly reduce the demand for unofficial remittance systems. However, although illegal in Taiwan, a large volume of informal financial activity takes place through unregulated, and possibly organized crime-linked, non-bank channels. Taiwan has five free trade zones and a growing offshore banking sector, which are regulated by Taiwan’s Central Bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission. There is no significant black market for smuggled goods in Taiwan.
  • KYC covered entities:Banks; trust and investment corporations; credit cooperative associations; credit departments of farmers’ and fishermen’s associations; Agricultural Bank of Taiwan; postal service institutions that also handle financial transactions; negotiable instrument finance corporations; credit card companies; insurance companies, agents, and brokers; securities brokers; securities investment and trust enterprises; securities finance enterprises and investment consulting enterprises; securities central depositories; futures brokers; trust enterprises; retail jewelers; and third party payment service businesses
  • STR covered entities:Banks; trust and investment corporations; credit cooperative associations; credit departments of farmers’ and fishermen’s associations; Agricultural Bank of Taiwan; postal service institutions that also handle financial transactions; negotiable instrument finance corporations; credit card companies; insurance companies, agents, and brokers; securities brokers; securities investment and trust enterprises; securities finance enterprises and investment consulting enterprises; securities central depositories; futures brokers; trust enterprises; retail jewelers; and third party payment service businesses
  • Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs:Foreign:YesDomestic:Yes
  • Money Laundering Criminal Prosecutions/Convictions: Prosecutions:68 (January - October 2015); Convictions:7 (January - October 2015)
-Source: 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)

Rankings

FATF i | 2013 Methodology

Technical Effectiveness
Compliant : 10 High : 0
Largely Compliant : 26 Substantial : 7
Partially Compliant : 4 Moderate : 4
Non-Compliant : 0 Low : 0

BASEL i

Rank : 111/141
Score : 4.31/10

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL i

Rank : 28/180
Score : 65/100

Tax Justice Network i

Rank : 13/133
Score : 66/100