Anti-money laundering drive may be expanded

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-11/10/content_6245126.htm>

China Daily

BIZCHINA / Center

Anti-money laundering drive may be expanded

By Xin Zhiming (China Daily)

Updated: 2007-11-10 09:10


The central bank is likely to expand the scope of its drive against money
laundering by including sectors such as securities, insurance, real estate,
legal services and lottery.

A People's Bank of China (PBOC) statement said on Friday: "(We) will
strengthen anti-money laundering checks targeted at securities and
insurance institutions."

The central bank will study the possibility of including some non-financial
sectors such as legal services, real estate and lottery, too, into its
anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing framework, PBOC Governor
Zhou Xiaochuan told a 23-member inter-departmental meeting on anti-money
laundering.

Related readings:
 Anti-money laundering screws tightened China joins FATF anti-money
laundering body Anti-money laundering rules

The country still needs to improve its anti-money laundering law that took
effect from January 1 this year, he said.

In the next stage of the drive, the country will focus on revising articles
on money laundering and terrorism financing in its Criminal Law to make
them more practical and feasible, Zhou said.

Efforts will be made to improve efficiency in investigation, prosecution
and ruling in cases involving money laundering and terrorism financing.

The possibility of setting up a bearer securities declaration system with
the Customs will be studied, too, the central bank's statement said.

The central bank and the customs offices will set up a network to ensure
relevant information are reported to each other.

It will coordinate and cooperate with financial information centers of
other countries, too, and work jointly with them to set up a mechanism for
preventing illegal cross-border capital flow, the statement said.

China has achieved "breakthroughs" in recent years in its anti-money
laundering drive, Zhou said.

Apart from passing the anti-money laundering law, China has also issued
rules on controlling terrorism financing by telling banks to report
suspicious transactions to the authorities.

-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'