Thailand to be taken off money-laundering blacklist: Sihanart

Thailand is set to be removed from the blacklist of countries perceived as non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) secretary-general Sihanart Prayoonrat said yesterday.

The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) met last week in Paris, and agreed that Thailand would be considered for removal from the blacklist after making significant progress in meeting international standards, Sihanart said. The FATF would send a team of experts to Thailand in May to confirm the country had reinforced laws and measures, he said, adding that the expert team would report its findings to the FAFT in June.

The FATF had required of Thailand that it issued new and more-standardised regulations covering access to financial-services customers' facts, that it fixed loopholes in its anti-money laundering law, and that it encouraged and supervised financial institutes in their execution of these changes.