The cabinet on Thursday approved a draft amendment to the anti-money laundering law to encompass child pornography, tax evasion and exorbitant interest rates.
Deputy government spokeswoman Ratchda Dhnadirek said the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) proposed the draft bill to amend the 1999 anti-money law to be in compliance with international standards on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFTX).
The amendments were suggested by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to bring the law up to date, allow more efficient enforcement and create justice, said Ms Ratchada.
Beyond that, the draft bill would also enable AML/CFTX evaluation in time for the kingdom to push for membership of the FATF by the end of 2023.
The main points of the draft bill:
-Amendments to “predicate offence’’ to cover more offences such as the child pornography trade, tax evasion or customs avoidance, falsification of documents, digital asset exchange violations, bidding collusion, exorbitant interest rates beyond the legal limits; it would also add the term “those who earn their living’’ to make the meaning clearer and more applicable to those running businesses in Thailand;
-Improving rules regarding the receiving of complaints and the compiling of information by customs officials, rules regarding negotiable monetary instruments (previously it covered only currency or foreign currency) and giving authority to customs officials to confiscate currency, foreign currency and negotiable monetary instruments;
-Defining duties of associations, foundations and non-profit organisations to prevent them from being used as a channel for money laundering and financing acts of terrorism. In case of suspicious activities, the Amlo branch office, with the consent of the Amlo board, could temporarily suspend those financial transactions;
-Defining rules regarding information storage or documents about fact-finding probes involving customers;
-Adding more charges against those who allow other people to use documents or evidence for money transactions. Offenders are liable to a jail term of up to 3 years and/or a fine of up to 60,000 baht.
The deputy government spokeswoman said the draft amendment, if put in force, would be a legal mechanism for the state to prevent and suppress crime more efficiently, create justice and boost confidence among people. This would improve Thailand’s image on the international stage, she said.