Cambodia's Financial Progress Under Scrutiny

Cambodia Maintains Enhanced Follow-Up Status with FATF Despite Progress

Continued Strides in Addressing Technical Compliance Deficiencies

The Kingdom of Cambodia has made significant improvements in addressing technical compliance deficiencies, according to a recent update from the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering. The country has been re-rated on several key recommendations related to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism measures.

Notable Improvements in Key Areas

Customer Due Diligence: Cambodia has made notable improvements in customer due diligence, ensuring that financial institutions conduct thorough checks on customers to prevent money laundering.
Reporting of Suspicious Transactions: The country has also seen progress in reporting suspicious transactions, which is crucial for detecting and preventing financial crimes.
Combating Proliferation Financing: Cambodia’s efforts to combat proliferation financing have improved, helping to prevent the misuse of financial systems for illicit activities.

Remaining Challenges

Despite these improvements, Cambodia still lags behind in one critical area: the ratification of a UN convention aimed at preventing the misuse of bank secrecy for tax evasion purposes (R.15).

Enhanced Follow-Up by APG and FATF

Cambodia will continue to be placed under enhanced follow-up by the APG. The country is required to submit regular progress reports, with its fourth submission due on February 1st, 2022. This will enable international authorities to closely monitor and assess Cambodia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing measures.

Ongoing Engagement and Commitment

The FATF’s continued engagement with Cambodia underscores the importance of maintaining a robust framework for combating financial crimes in the region. As the country continues to navigate this process, it is expected that Cambodia will remain committed to addressing outstanding deficiencies and making sustained progress towards improving its compliance record.