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Important notice from Company Registry on TCSPs - 22 July 2019
22 Jul 2019Re: Hong Kong Rated Compliant in FATF mutual evaluation
We are delighted to inform you that Hong Kong has become the first member jurisdiction in the Asia-Pacific region to have achieved an overall compliant result as regards its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (“AML/CTF”) regime in the mutual evaluation undertaken by member jurisdictions of the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”). The Government has issued a press release on the matter.
2. The FATF is an inter-governmental body which sets global standards for AML/CTF. Comprising 39 major economies of the world, the FATF conducts peer reviews of member jurisdictions regularly to assess their compliance with the international AML/CTF standards under a mutual evaluation process. Hong Kong has been a member of the FATF since 1991. Lasting for over a year, the mutual evaluation was undertaken by an assessment team comprising 10 experts from the FATF and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering. The Mutual Evaluation Report (“the Report”) of Hong Kong was examined by the full FATF membership at its June Plenary held in Orlando, the US. The Report is expected to be published by the FATF in September 2019.
3. The Report finds that Hong Kong has a strong legal and institutional framework for AML/CTF, and is particularly effective in the areas of risk identification, law enforcement, asset recovery, counter-terrorist financing and international co-operation. We fully appreciate the contribution of your organisation and your members to the overall achievement of Hong Kong in the mutual evaluation. Let us work hand-in-hand to maintain the robust AML/CTF regime of Hong Kong.