Hong Kong’s banking regulator has launched investigation against various financial organizations for possible breaches of its anti-money laundering regulation.
Quoting an unidentified person, South China Morning Post reported that one bank has been questioned about its money laundering controls.
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The authority confirmed to South China Morning Post that investigations were in progress, but declined to give any details on the sums involved, the names of the institutions or the alleged breaches of the law.
The investigations are the first to be made since the strict Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance, better known as AMLO, was enacted more than two years ago.
"The enactment of AMLO … provided Hong Kong regulators with new supervisory powers, including appropriate sanctions, such as the power to take disciplinary action when the legal requirements to conduct due diligence on clients were not met," a spokeswoman told the South China Morning Post.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), which is not probing the case, said last year it would double its team of specialists, which mainly comprises examiners for carrying out on-site checks at banks, to 22 people.
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By GlobalData
