Thai officials prevented from money transactions in US

11 Oct 2012

US bank entities have refused to make money transactions for Thai embassy officials in Washington, a harsh move that has been influenced by the fact that Thailand is on the Financial task force watch list as a high risk country for money laundering according to Thai officials.
News about Thai embassy officials in Washington struggling to cash bank cheques and conduct financial transactions is creating roar in Bangkok.

Justice Minister Pracha Promnok says it is a clear result of Thailand being on the watch list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body which sets standards for anti-money laundering laws .

According to officials, staff from the embassy in Washington went to local banks to cash cheques, but were refused to do so. Later they informed the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) in Thailand that they are having trouble conducting financial transactions in US bank entities.

Thai Authorities say implementing additional anti money laundering laws has become a necessity, as the negative impact on Thailand has intensified, especially after The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) put Thailand on its list of “high risk” countries last February. The reason was,Thailand had not made sufficient progress in fighting money laundering.

Thailand has officially requested The IMF to help the country mediate with the FATF and report its ongoing attempts and progress to follow the necessary policies in order to comply with international laws.

The Thai Anti money laundering office aims at having its new bill passed into law by the end of the year, with the new policies likely to come into effect in February next year, the next step would be to remove Thailand from the FATF watch list .

The issue of officials being refused to make money transactions in the US is seen as a result of having Thailand on the list of high risk countries due to money laundering, a reason enough for the government to enact additional laws and avoid further sanctions from the international community.

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