Macao's anti-money laundering efforts praised by int'l organizations

MACAO -- The efforts by China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) in cracking down on money laundering and terrorist financing have been praised by international organizations, Macao's Financial Information Office said on Friday.

The Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), an international organization on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, on Friday published the Mutual Evaluation Report on Macao SAR.

Macao SAR obtains six substantial effectiveness ratings among 11 effectiveness outcomes, which ranks it among the higher tier of APG members that have been recently evaluated. There are also three moderate effectiveness ratings and only two low effectiveness ratings, according to the report.

It also obtains 37 compliant and largely compliant ratings, and only 2 partially compliant and 1 non-compliant ratings, out of the 40 recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard-setting body of anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism and combating of proliferation financing, the report said.

The report provides a detailed account of the respective work and ratings of Macao SAR, and gives an authoritative proof of Macao SAR's steadfast efforts in the prevention and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, Macao's Financial Information Office said.