Introduction: Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing
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Becoming a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (“APG“) in June 2004, Cambodia continues to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) system. These efforts mark significant improvements to comply with the internationally accepted anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards set out by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF“). These include the FATF Forty Recommendations and FATF Eight Special Recommendations. Therefore, conducting business or professional activities in some sectors in Cambodia also need to abide with the law and regulations on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. In 2007, the first comprehensive Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing (the “AML/CTF 2007”) was promulgated. The AML/CTF 2007 has established the Cambodia Financial Intelligence Unit (“CAFIU“) as a watchdog in this sector. CAFIU actively works with the enforcement entities and the reporting entities to ensure the compliance with FATF recommendations. CAFIU has signed Memorandum of Understanding with 14 domestic counterparts and 27 international counterparts. In addition to this, Cambodia also established the National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money-Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism. Additionally, various sub-decrees and regulations were adopted in order to implement the AML/CFT 2007. After some amendments to the AML/CTF 2007, the new AML/CFT law (“AML/CFT 2020“) was promulgated in 2020, the same year as the Law on combatting the financing of weapons of mass destruction proliferation. |