NB officers attend meeting on money laundering
Superintendent (SP) Ma Ping-yiu and Chief Inspector (CIP) Bernard Law of the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit of Narcotics Bureau (NB), attended the 15th Asia /Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) Annual Meeting 2012 in Brisbane, Australia, from July 16 to 20.
APG is an international organisation in the Asia/Pacific Region, consisting of 41 country and jurisdiction members as well as international and regional observers. The functions of APG are to promote and ensure members' compliance with the international standards set by a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting of financing of terrorism (CFT) by means of mutual evaluations, technical assistance and international co-operation.
To serve these purposes, there are two working groups under APG, namely Implementation Issues Working Group (IIWG) and Typologies Working Group. IIWG is mandated to assist members in implementing the FATF standards and is co-chaired by two members. CIP Law, representing Hong Kong, China, formally took over the co-chairmanship of IIWG from Malaysia and will co-chair with New Zealand in the next two years.
"It's an honour for Hong Kong to co-chair IIWG for the first time. Apart from recognising the expertise of the Force in the specialised field of AML and CFT, it also raises the profile and commitment of Hong Kong in APG," CIP Law said of his co-chairmanship.
CIP Law will lead a one-year IIWG project to identify the obstacles to investigation, prosecution and sanctioning related to money laundering offences and to recommend the way forward for overcoming such obstacles. A project team has been formed for further study and research, comprising members from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Cook Islands, the Philippines, Malaysia, Macau and the World Bank.
"In view of the revised FATF Recommendations promulgated in February 2012, the work of IIWG is particularly important for assisting APG members in understanding the new requirements," SP Law said. He stressed that CIP Law's active participation in APG would enhance the cross-border co-operation between Hong Kong and other APG members in combatting money laundering and terrorist financing.
SP
Ma (right) and CIP Law at the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering
Annual Meeting