Macao’s Struggle Against Money Laundering: A Compliance Report

===========================================================

Macao, a special administrative region of China, has been working tirelessly to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations to combat money laundering. The recent Mutual Evaluation 2017 report provides an insight into the country’s efforts in this regard.

Compliance and Non-Compliance

The report highlights several areas where Macao is largely compliant with FATF Recommendations, including:

Assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach (R.1)
National cooperation and coordination (R.2)
Financial intelligence units (R.29)

However, there are also areas that require improvement, including:

Cash couriers (R.32) - Macao is non-compliant
Regulation and supervision of financial institutions (R.26) and DNFBPs (R.28) - requires strengthening

Combating Terrorist Financing

Macao has been largely compliant in implementing targeted financial sanctions (R.6). However, there are areas that need improvement, including:

Reporting of suspicious transactions (R.20)
Tipping-off and confidentiality requirements (R.21)

Transparency and Beneficial Ownership

The report highlights the importance of transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements (R.24 and R.25). Macao has been largely compliant in this regard, but further improvement is needed.

Conclusion

While Macao has made significant progress in combating money laundering, there are still areas that require attention. The country’s financial authorities must continue to work towards strengthening its regulatory framework and improving cooperation with international partners to effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Recommendations

Strengthen regulation and supervision of financial institutions and DNFBPs
Improve reporting of suspicious transactions and tipping-off and confidentiality requirements
Enhance transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements