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After Gaining FATF Membership, China Still Faces AML Enforcement Hurdles
By Brian Orsak
printAo Man Long, a former secretary of transport and public works in Macau, was indicted last month for abuse of power, accepting bribes and money laundering, activities that Chinese authorities say helped build his assets to a level 50 times greater than his annual salary. What's most remarkable about the case, which occurred in one of China's two special administrative regions, is that it's not unusual, says anti-money laundering compliance consultant Peter Gallo. "There's barely a day that goes by without a corruption scandal," he said. The ordinariness of such lower-level government corruption is inhibiting the enforcement of anti-money laundering...
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Macau is today not only one of the most active gambling centers in the world, but also one of the most vulnerable to money laundering, say compliance experts.
In its 18th annual report, the organization that sets global anti-money laundering standards noted its accomplishments in the past year and identified new objectives.
In a FATF evaluation, China was deemed fully compliant with eight of FATFs 49 recommendations on money laundering and terrorist financing and noncompliant with eight others. In separate reports, FATF called the U.K.s AML program comprehensive and said Greeces has fallen behind.
FATF approved Chinas membership during its plenary meeting in Paris this week. China passed comprehensive AML laws in October 2006 to bring its system in line with international standards.
The new rules, which extend a law enacted last year, are part of China's bid to join the international Financial Action Task Force.
The new law and corresponding regulations compel the nation's financial institutions to develop comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) programs, with customer identification procedures, recordkeeping rules and suspicious and large transaction reporting requirements.