In a statement released on Tuesday, the bureau said that the six casino operators in Macau submitted a total of 1,856 reports of suspicious transactions involving money laundering or terrorist financing.
In a statement, the GIF pointed to “the decrease in the number of suspicious transaction reports from the gaming sector” during the first half of the year as the main reason for a 12.6% drop in the total number.
Between January and June, the office received 2,515 reports, of which 73.8% came from casino operators, 19.9% from banks and insurance companies, and 6.3% from other institutions and entities.
The sectors referred to, including pawn shops, jewellers, real estate agencies and auction houses, must report any transaction equal to or exceeding 500,000 patacas (approximately €53,400) to the authorities.
In 2024, the GIF received 5,245 reports, most of which came from casinos in the territory: 3,837, representing an 11.8% increase over the previous year and a new record. In March 2022, the US State Department designated Macau as one of the world’s leading money laundering hubs, pointing to high-roller gamblers and the “illicit activities they often facilitate”.
Authorities arrested Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, head of Suncity and at the time the world’s largest VIP gambling recruiter, in November 2021.
According to the GIF’s annual report, Macau was the only member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) that complied with “all 40 international standards” on the prevention of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The office signed agreements for the exchange of information with 33 countries and territories, including the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Portuguese Judicial Police in 2008, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Timor-Leste in 2018, and, in 2019, the Financial Activities Control Council of Brazil and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Cabo Verde.
In a statement released today, the GIF said it had finalised procedures to sign an agreement with Angola on the exchange of information to promote the legal use of money and support the funding of peaceful activities.
The office stated that the agreement was on the table during a meeting with representatives of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Republic of Angola, held on the sidelines of the Egmont Group meeting from 6 to 11 July in Luxembourg.
The Egmont Group is an international organisation that fights money laundering, bringing together 181 information units from around the world. The FATF added Angola to its “grey list” in October after the country made little progress toward meeting its legal and financial regulatory requirements.
Mozambique is also on the FATF’s “grey list,” and the Egmont Group added the country on 10 July, the Mozambican Ministry of Finance announced today. The FATF, an intergovernmental organisation, sets international standards for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The “grey list” identifies countries that are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in these areas.
Platform with Lusa
