Money-laundering: Thailand fully withdrawn from FATF's Public Statement

[webfact]

MONEY-LAUNDERING
Thailand fully withdrawn from FATF's Public Statement
Piyanart Srivalo
The Nation


Secretary-General of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) Pol. Col. Sihanart Prayoonrat

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is fully removed from the "Public Statement" of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for improvements in compliance with the global anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) standards.

Secretary-General of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) Pol. Col. Sihanart Prayoonrat said the removal followed the discussion in Oslo, Norway, during June 17-21, where Thailand informed FATF of further progress.

Removed from the "Public Statement" means Thailand is no longer on the list of countries at risk of money laundering by terrorist groups. Included on the list, countries could face sanctions by FATF member countries which could affect cross-border business and financial transactions.

Thailand has improved the compliance by a number of actions including the issuance of ministerial regulations on cash threshold transactions. FATF also required member countries to adequately criminalising terrorist financing and establishing and implementing adequate procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets.

According to Sihanart, during the discussion in Norway, Thailand was urged to raise awareness on legal enforcement among all parties, as some non-financial business operators still lack understanding in the counter-terrorist financing standards. AMLO is also urged to impose penalties on blacklisted individuals.


-- The Nation 2013-06-26

[tomross46]

Removed from the "Public Statement" means Thailand is no longer on the list of countries at risk of money laundering by terrorist groups. Included on the list, countries could face sanctions by FATF member countries which could affect cross-border business and financial transactions.

I am happy to see that terrorist are not using Thailand to launder money. This is a step forward. Now the government can start working on the money laundered by corrupt politicians.

[Ianatlarge]

Can someone tell me the difference between "money laundering" and what banks do?

[Thai at Heart]

Can someone tell me the difference between laundering money for terrorism and other illegal activities?

Sir, are your laundering your cash today on behalf of terrorism or Russian Mafia, fake DVDs, smuggled cars or people trafficking?

Ah, cars is it. OK....

[arthurboy]

Removed from the "Public Statement" means Thailand is no longer on the list of countries at risk of money laundering by terrorist groups. Included on the list, countries could face sanctions by FATF member countries which could affect cross-border business and financial transactions.

I am happy to see that terrorist are not using Thailand to launder money. This is a step forward. Now the government can start working on the money laundered by corrupt politicians.

Completely agree.

Now let's wait for the people to take to the streets, irrespective of their political persuasion, and demand that the government and associated authorities deal with corruption firmly and imprison those responsible for this reprehensible practice.

Note to self: Do you really think there is any realistic chance of this actually happening?

[givenall]

Removed from the "Public Statement" means Thailand is no longer on the list of countries at risk of money laundering by terrorist groups. Included on the list, countries could face sanctions by FATF member countries which could affect cross-border business and financial transactions.

I am happy to see that terrorist are not using Thailand to launder money. This is a step forward. Now the government can start working on the money laundered by corrupt politicians.

Another contradiction at its best. don't you love LOS

[beammeup]

"Completely agree.

Now let's wait for the people to take to the streets, irrespective of their political persuasion, and demand that the government and associated authorities deal with corruption firmly and imprison those responsible for this reprehensible practice.

Note to self: Do you really think there is any realistic chance of this actually happening?"

Arthurboy isnt that what the white masks are doing?

[noitom]

Has any Thai bank officer been hauled off in handcuffs and is facing charges on these money laundering violations? When a Thai bank officer gets arrested and charged publicly and prosecuted, then the world will start to believe that Thailand is serious about this. Until then it is a preposterous Thai show.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Now the government can start working on the money laundered by corrupt politicians.

Why? They don't even bother to launder it. If any questions are asked, they do a Chalerm. ie 'Do you know who I am'.

Done.

[Pib]

According to Sihanart, during the discussion in Norway, Thailand was urged to raise awareness on legal enforcement among all parties, as some non-financial business operators still lack understanding in the counter-terrorist financing standards. AMLO is also urged to impose penalties on blacklisted individuals.

I'm sure the Thai govt is developing a plan to "urge" all parties regarding awareness on legal enforcement. What does an "urge" feel like when someone "urges" you? And I'm sure they will impose penalties on blacklisted individuals just as soon as they cancel the individuals' Thailand Elite cards.

[useronthenet]

Hardly imagine that Thailand has been completely removed from the list of countries given there is no statement from the origanisation themselves on their website.

Quote "Corruption and money laundering are intrinsically linked, as both are generally committed to obtain or hide financial gain. Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures are powerful tools that are effective in the fight against corruption." says FATF

Given that in 2012, Thailand was also ranked at number 88 in the world by Transparency International, I would say that there is a long way to go before Thailand can start blowing it's trumpet.

[BlackJack]

does anyone know what the thresholds are

ie 1 million dollars or what?

[Pib]

Well, from looking at the FATF Public Statement found at this Link Thailand is no longer listed on it. That's a good thing. To be honest, I'm somewhat surprised.

And in this FATF document on improving compliance, Thailand is now on the list of "Jurisdictions no longer subject to the FATF’s on-going global AML/CFT compliance process." That's a good thing.

Hopefully, this will indeed result in funds transfers to Thailand being much less in the limelight by governments/banks, as it seems from some posts by ThaiVisa members transfers to Thailand can sometimes be problematic because of home country/banks---maybe because Thailand was on the FATF bad boys list.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Pib

[rubl]

"Improving Global AML/CFT Compliance: On-going process - 21 June 2013"

"The FATF and the FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) will continue to work with the jurisdictions noted below and to report on the progress made in addressing the identified deficiencies. The FATF calls on these jurisdictions to complete the implementation of action plans expeditiously and within the proposed timeframes. The FATF will closely monitor the implementation of these action plans and encourages its members to consider the information presented below."
... list of countries including Thailand

Thailand specific:
The FATF welcomes Thailands significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime and notes that Thailand has established the legal and regulatory framework to meet its commitments in its Action Plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF had identified in February 2010. Thailand is therefore no longer subject to FATFs monitoring process under its on-going global AML/CFT compliance process. Thailand will work with the APG as it continues to address the full range of AML/CFT issues identified in its Mutual Evaluation Report.
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/countries/s-t/thailand/documents/compliance-june-2013.html

[lee b]

Now its been published how long before we are back on the list ?? emmm

[how241]

Can someone tell me the difference between "money laundering" and what banks do?

+1

[razer]

What about HSBC? Just Google HSBC money laundering ... so many ... so many.

[rubl]

Can anyone explain to me the difference between "withdrawn" and "fully withdrawn" ?

[Always18]

Can anyone explain to me the difference between "withdrawn" and "fully withdrawn" ?

Yes, the difference is which one actually happens after using an ambiguous phrase like " Darling, I promise I won't........................."!

[Noistar]

Kbank advised not to worry about the $20,000 daily limit. Just spread it over several days!

Yep, financial controls in place and banks are serious to make sure they are implemented

What happened about the 300bn(was it million?) THB which magically appeared in Hong Kong. It became not an issue when the Thai government said there was no problem. Do you trust the politicians with the magic unaccountability of public funds?

[GentlemanJim]

In the unlikely event that the Dems get in at the next election, the first thing they should do is get KPMG or Price Waterhouse in to do a full 100% audit of Government/Treasury/tax payers money. It will take a few months but in that time the prison service can start to prepare several hundred jail cells.

[yoshiwara]

Can someone tell me the difference between "money laundering" and what banks do?

+1

Let's close both your bank accounts and start from there.