Anti-Money Laundering Course (Cantonese)

“AMLO Statutory Requirements” course (Cantonese) co-organized by our Association and Institute of Professional Education and Knowledge (PEAK) will be held on 5 June 2018 (Thursday night). Since sufficient staff training is significantly effective in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and HKC&ED requires MSOs to receive relevant AML continuous training, our Association encourages MSOs to proactively participate as well as arrange and encourage their staff to attend our courses. This is also a good opportunity to raise staff’s legal awareness and enhance their knowledge on the required level of compliance.
The course only costs MSOA Member HK$390 each. To verify the eligibility to the special discount, applicants must enroll in the course through the Hong Kong Money Service Operators Association. For more details or any queries, please visit our website or call our hotline at 3176 2004.

Cross-boundary Movement of Physical Currency and Bearer Negotiable Instruments Ordinance (Cap.629) will be effective from 16 July 2018. The Ordinance establishes a declaration and disclosure system to detect the physical cross-boundary transportation of large quantities of currency and bearer negotiable instruments (CBNIs), fulfilling Hong Kong's international obligation to implement Recommendation 32 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for ensuring that terrorists and other criminals cannot finance their activities or launder criminal proceeds through such cross-boundary means. The main contexts of the Ordinance are as follow:

MSOs should pay attention to and comply with the above Ordinance.

Hong Kong Customs combats money service operation without licence

On 23 May 2018, Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) arrested a male proprietor of a gold and jewellery shop suspected of operating money service without licence, in contravention of the Anti-money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO). Officers of the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) earlier on patrol discovered a shop in Sha Tin suspected of operating money service without licence.

Officers today disguised as customers and conducted a test-exchange operation at the gold and jewellery shop inside a shopping arcade, which was found operating money service business without a licence from the Commissioner of Customs and Excise in addition to its gold and jewellery retailing business. Investigation is ongoing. Read More

Hong Kong taxi driver arrested for scamming passengers with fake banknotes

Police detained the man and found a stack of bogus money with a face value of more than HK$83,000, after three passengers made reports. Police have seized 172 fake banknotes with a face value of more than HK$83,000 (US$10,500) from a Hong Kong taxi driver suspected of scamming passengers by using the counterfeits as change. Each of the bogus HSBC banknotes looked genuine but was...Read More

In Hong Kong’s fight against dirty money, officials vow to ‘address gaps’

Hong Kong is battling to “address gaps” in the fight against dirty cash as it struggles to tackle a mountain of money laundering reports that have piled up in recent years, a landmark government report released on Monday night has revealed. Two days after it emerged that the city’s financial system is groaning under a deluge of suspicious transaction reports, mostly from banks, an official risk assessment of the challenges Hong Kong faces has described the rise in money laundering reports as“significant”. Read More

Withdrawal period of the MOP10 banknotes issued in 1991 and 1995 will end in next week

The withdrawal period for the MOP10 banknotes issued in 1991 and 1995 will end on May 26. Thereafter, the mentioned banknote cannot be used as a circulation currency in the market. In accordance with the stipulation of the Despacho do Chefe de Executivo No. 117/2015 on June 1, the withdrawal period for the MOP10 banknotes (see below) issued by Banco Nacional Ultramarino S.A. (“BNU”) (Authorized by Decreto Lei No.40/91/M on July 8) and by Bank of China (Macau Branch) (“BOC”) (Authorized by Decreto Lei No.8/95/M on January 30) will end on May 26, 2018…Read More