Macau (MNA) – Of the 2,187 suspicious transactions possibly connected to money laundering or the financing of terrorism that were reported to the Macau Financial Intelligence Office (GIF) in the first half of this year, 60 were forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for investigation.
In the whole year of 2017, some 3,085 suspicious transactions were reported to GIF, with 135 forwarded for investigation.
The number of recorded transactions in this period increased some 43 per cent yearly, a rise the department attributed to the hike in reported transactions from the financial sector.
Reported suspicious transactions connected to financial institutions or insurance companies rocketed 49 per cent year-on-year in the first six months of the year to 617, while suspicious transactions involving other institutions went up by a significant 1,033 per cent to 442.
Meanwhile , transactions reported by the gaming sector went up five per cent to 1,128, representing almost half of reported suspicious transactions.
Companies from the mentioned sectors are mandated to report to authorities any transaction equal to or above MOP500,000 to comply with new anti-money laundering regulations enforced in 2017.
