Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the international organization for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), adopted the latest 2021 Mutual Evaluation Follow-up Report of the Macao SAR in December 2021. This is the second Follow-up Report since the publication of APG Mutual Evaluation Report of Macao SAR in 2017.
The Macao SAR submitted the first regular Follow-up Report to APG in 2019, and successfully upgraded 3 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations to largely compliant ratings, and became the first member which passed all 40 FATF Recommendations on technical compliance assessment among all globally evaluated members at that time. After nearly two years’ concerted efforts of collaboration and communication between member agencies of the Interdepartmental Anti-Money Laundering/Combating of Financing of Terrorism Working Group (the AML/CFT Working Group) and the Financial Intelligence Office (GIF), the Macao SAR submitted the second Follow-up Report in September 2021 to demonstrate the latest developments of the AML/CFT regime. The report was then adopted by all APG members in December while successfully maintaining the complaint and largely compliant ratings (passing grade) of all 40 FATF Technical Compliance Recommendations.
According to the statistics of FATF, as of late November 2021, 120 members out of 206 members globally had been evaluated, where only 5 members passed all 40 Technical Compliance Recommendations. Macao SAR is still the only APG member that has passed all 40 Technical Compliance Recommendations. In addition, the Macao SAR, which has achieved satisfactory ratings in 6 outcomes out of 11 effectiveness outcomes, is the member with the best result in effectiveness outcomes among the 5 aforementioned members.
The achievements of the Macao SAR in the APG mutual evaluation are all due to the joint efforts of various governmental agencies and private entities, especially the close cooperation between the 15 member agencies of AML/CFT Working Group and the active cooperation from different sectors. As the future focus of APG mutual evaluation will be on implementation effectiveness, the requirements for passing will be more stringent. The Macao SAR shall remain vigilant as always to the continuous changes in the global financial market, continue to promote the practical implementation of AML/CFT laws and regulations, and strive to safeguard the financial and public security of the Macao SAR.