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Thailand Tightens Anti-Money Laundering Laws
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The Thai government has made significant changes to the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 1999 (AMLA) in an effort to prevent financial institutions from being used for money laundering activities. The amendments, which took effect on August 26, 2011, introduce new regulations and requirements for financial institutions and regulated businesses.
Key Amendments
The key changes introduced by the AMLA amendments include:
- Reporting Requirements: Financial institutions are now required to report transactions worth THB2 million or more, unless the transaction is an electronic transfer or payment of money, in which case a cash transaction of THB100,000 or greater must be reported.
- Regulated Businesses: Regulated businesses listed in (1) to (5) and (8) above have to report cash transactions worth THB2 million or more; regulated business es in (6) are required to report any cash transactions worth THB500,000 or more and regulated business es in (7) and (9) must report any cash transactions worth THB100,000 or more.
- New Entities: Two new entities will now be considered financial institutions for the purposes of AMLA and its subordinate legislation: legal entities which conduct businesses involving futures contracts, as defined by the laws governing futures contracts; and legal entities which conduct businesses involving the sale and purchase of futures, as defined by the laws governing the sale and purchase of agricultural produce futures.
- Exempt Transactions: Three new types of transactions will be exempt from the duty to report to AMLO: transactions relating to payment service providers, involving amounts less than THB750,000; credit card services; Electronic Data Capture (EDC) services; Switch payment services; account debit/direct debit services; settlement services; and account debit services, with payments in the form of cheques, drafts, bills of exchange, promissory notes, and other official instruments.
- Customer Verification: Customer identity verification is now required for transactions worth THB700,000 or more, or transactions involving electronic money services or electronic transfer payments worth THB50,000 or more.
New Types of Regulated Businesses
The AMLA amendments also introduce new types of regulated businesses that are subject to the reporting requirements. These include:
- Payment Service Providers
- Credit Card Services
- Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Services
- Switch Payment Services
- Account Debit/Direct Debit Services
- Settlement Services
- Account Debit Services
Customer Identification and Verification
Financial institutions and regulated businesses are now required to verify the identity of their customers in all transactions, except for exempted transactions. Customer identification and verification procedures must be implemented to prevent money laundering activities.
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