The Bank of Thailand is tightening rules for financial transactions to control mule accounts and plans to extend stricter measures to include digital assets and e-wallets in the next phase.
The central bank expanded the classification of mule accounts to five risk levels, up from three, to better manage financial fraud cases, said Roong Mallikamas, deputy governor for financial institutions stability.
The regulator currently prohibits money transfers to dark grey and black mule accounts. Starting in March, it plans to extend this prohibition to include soft grey, dark brown and soft brown mule accounts.
In addition, Ms Roong said the central bank will ban money transfers from soft brown and dark brown mule accounts via electronic channels from March.
Mule accounts in these categories are also prohibited from opening new deposit accounts, with enforcement starting in March.
In terms of information sharing on mule accounts, the central bank will expand the scope to include digital asset and e-wallet operators, in addition to the existing financial institutions, she said.
This expanded measure is expected to take effect in March this year, in collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said Ms Roong.
"Thanks to a stronger database shared among all relevant parties involved in mule account protection, our ability to identify mule accounts has continued to improve. This allows us to better prevent financial fraud and protect consumers," she said.
As of December 2024, 1.75 million mule accounts were closed, involving 134,000 depositors.
Ms Roong said regulators require banks to monitor money transfers to digital assets. When such transactions occur repeatedly, it is possible to identify financial behaviour that may qualify as mule accounts, she said.
The regulator plans to tighten measures for corporate mule accounts and is considering prohibiting the opening of new deposit accounts linked to such mule activities starting next month, said Ms Roong.
In related news, Daranee Saeju, the central bank's assistant governor, payment systems policy and financial consumer protection group, said the regulator agrees with the recent cabinet approval of the emergency decree amendment addressing mobile financial scams. The amendment outlines shared responsibility among financial institutions, telecom operators and users.
All parties involved should be held accountable based on their respective failures, she said, adding the central bank is studying the shared-responsibility model of Singapore and considering adopting certain measures, including a money-lock system. This measure aims to protect victims from financial scams. However, the central bank needs more time to assess and implement these measures, said Ms Daranee.