The Financial Intelligence Office (GIF) organized two thematic seminars on 8th November 2022, which were “Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism” (AML/CFT) and “Law on Asset Freezing Regime” respectively for the financial sector in Macao, with the aim to deepen the understanding of the financial practitioners in related fields. This enables them not only to comprehend the precautions and identify suspicious transactions of money laundering or terrorist financing when dealing with financial activities, but also to effectively implement the procedures for freezing assets, so as to meet the requirements of relevant laws and regulations.
To align with anti-epidemic work of the Macao SAR government, the seminars were conducted online. Topics covered in the seminars included the statistical data and case typologies of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) submitted by the financial sector. As a starting point, STR cases were shared to explain the pattern and development trend of money laundering crimes. In addition, other covered topics comprised the operational measures and the emergency contact mechanism implemented under the “Asset Freezing Regime”, which provided the financial sector with a better understanding of the legal framework of the regime and the mitigation measures required to prevent high-risk transactions involving terrorist financing.
The attendance rate of the two seminars was about 1,000. GIF expects that such seminars would help to facilitate interface and cooperation with the financial sector, as well as to provide the sector with practical information on anti-money laundering/ combating the financing of terrorism/ countering proliferation financing. Consequently, financial sector’s awareness of the importance of preventive measures and financial sanctions can be enhanced, so as to achieve the vision of public-private partnership in the fight against financial crimes.
