Premier William Lai (賴清德) is to lead a public pledge on Wednesday declaring the government’s determination to fight money laundering, increase financial transparency and pass the third round of mutual evaluations by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in November next year, sources said.
Taiwan joined the APG in 1997 as a founding member under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
In the first round of evaluations in 2007, Taiwan was placed on the regular follow-up list.
However, in the second round of evaluations in 2011, Taiwan was demoted to the enhanced follow-up list, which required a strict follow-up evaluation every four months.
In June, after President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration pushed for an amendment, a revised Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) took effect, aligning the nation’s efforts to prevent money laundering with those of the international community, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
At the APG annual meeting in Sri Lanka on July 20, Taiwan became the only nation to be officially removed from the 10-member list.
China would also be evaluated next year, but Taiwan faces greater pressure and will have to work hard to pass the evaluation, the sources said.
They added that Taiwan’s goal for next year’s APG evaluation should be to strive for a good evaluation to avoid sanctions, or in a worst-case scenario, strict reviews of all foreign transactions.
This would be disadvantageous for Taiwan’s financial activities, they added.
Nearly 20 government agencies, 50 government officials and numerous civic groups would attend Lai’s pledge, sources said.
Those invited include Prosecutor-General Yen Da-ho (顏大和), Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) and Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄), as well as officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, the Ministry of the Interior, the Council of Agriculture and the Executive Yuan’s Anti-Money Laundering Office, they added.
Officials said that representatives from eight state-run banks, the Bankers Association, the Life Insurance Association and other civic groups would be invited to a news conference at the Executive Yuan.
Apart from the pledge, the finance ministry and the Anti-Money Laundering Office are to host a running event on Sunday to boost the promotion of the campaign against anti-money laundering, the sources said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS