The nation’s first-ever national assessment report on money laundering and terrorism financing was released yesterday by the Executive Yuan, identifying the areas where the nation could do more to prevent money laundering.
The report identified trafficking in narcotics, fraud, organized crime, corruption, smuggling, securities crimes, third-party money laundering, tax evasion and intellectual property crimes as the nine major areas where improvement was needed.
China, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia are the top five destinations in terms of criminal gains, while the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam tied for fifth position, the report said.
China, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam and the Philippines are the top five countries in terms of incoming criminal cash flow, it added.
Thirty-seven government agencies and 31 private-sector groups collaborated on the report, which is aimed at preparing the government for the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) meeting in November, in which Taiwan would undergo its third round of mutual evaluations, after being placed on a watch list in 2011.
Taiwan is one of the founding members of the APG, which was established in 1997.
The report concluded that offshore banking units of domestic banks were very vulnerable, while offshore securities units and branch offices, securities branches, postal services as well as offshore insurance units of foreign banks were highly vulnerable, Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said.
Also included under highly vulnerable entities and professions were jewelry stores, lawyers, accountants, real-estate managers, agricultural financial establishments, insurance companies and securities investment, Chiu said.
Taiwan is the first nation in the Asia-Pacific region to pass legislation against money laundering and had been in compliance with APG regulations up until it was placed on the watch list in 2011, Premier William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at which the report was released.
The government is well aware that improvements could be made to the nation’s anti-money laundering legislation, and efforts began under former premier Lin Chuan (林全), Lai said.
They include the establishment of the Executive Yuan’s Anti-Money Laundering Office and amending the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), as well as the Act to Prevent Financing Terrorism (資恐防制法), Lai said.
SPEEDING ELETRIC VEHICLES: Available without license requirements, the low-cost vehicles, especially if illicitly modified, can often reach a dangerous speed The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles. Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers. Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said. “If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these
DIPLOMATIC MOVES: Beijing is reportedly pressing the state after reports of forming links with Taiwan, while the ministry is also planning to reopen its office in Guam soon A representative office is set to open in Somaliland at the end of this month, at the earliest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday amid reports that Beijing is sending a diplomatic delegation to the east African country. The ministry on July 1 announced that Taiwan and Somaliland would establish representative offices, following a report by the Somaliland Chronicle Web site. It said at the time that the two nations did not plan to establish formal ties. Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has instructed close confidants to explore the possibility of “mutual recognition between Taiwan and Somaliland,” the Somaliland Chronicle reported
A Belgian man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan last week is likely to have contracted the disease in Taipei in late June, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday reported that the man, who is in his 20s, came to Taiwan for work on May 3 and tested positive on Wednesday last week as he was about to depart. The man in March reported loss of taste and smell, the center said, adding that he worked in Changhua County, but visited Taipei several times,
NEW CASE REPORTED: A man who returned from South Africa on a flight with the nation’s 460th and 461st cases has now tested positive for the disease The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that there is no need to test all arrivals to the nation for COVID-19, a policy the Executive Yuan supports. The center reported one new imported case, bringing the nation’s tally of confirmed cases to 477. The new case is a Taiwanese man in his 60s who on July 25 returned from South Africa, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman. The man had returned to Taiwan on the same flight as cases Nos. 460 and 461, reported on July 27, Chuang said. On July 24,
RSS