By Gregory Das, Chairperson of the Bar Council Publications Committee
The 37th LAWASIA Conference 2024 took place from 13 to 15 Oct 2024 at Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
The afternoon segment of the final day of the 37th LAWASIA Conference included a session on the essential subject of anti-money laundering laws. The session was titled “Anti-Money Laundering: Understanding and Advancing AMLA Compliance in the Digital Space”.
The session was moderated by Babu Raj Raja Gopal, who is the Chairperson of the Bar Council AMLA Training Committee and Co-Deputy Chairperson of the Bar Council Committee on AMLA. This session featured speakers from diverse jurisdictions.
The first speaker of the session was Martin Lim, Director of Ingenique Solution Pte Ltd, Singapore. His company advises and assists firms in implementing anti-money laundering policies and procedures. In his presentation, Martin Lim drew attention to a central concern in relation to money laundering — it is easier to transfer funds anonymously through digital payment mechanisms than mechanisms that are not online-based. He also highlighted that in the current dynamics of digital space, artificial intelligence software has been employed to create fictitious identities to acquire services and products that one would not otherwise be permitted to acquire.
The next speaker was Kunchou Tsai, Managing Partner of the Enlighten Law Group from Taiwan. Kunchou Tsai began his presentation by providing an overview of the relevant regulatory framework in Taiwan. He noted that Taiwan would be implementing new anti-money laundering regulations to regulate the cryptocurrency industry with a focus on combating fraud and money laundering. This was in view of the growth of fraud cases in Taiwan in recent years through the use of cryptocurrency. Kunchou Tsai also stated that the Government of Taiwan currently requires companies to assist in the effort to combat crime and fraud by showing the compliance steps that have been taken to prevent money laundering activities.
The third speaker was Jiaoying Dong from Tai’an Lawfirm, China. She explained that new company laws have been introduced in China to address the matter of money laundering in the nation’s jurisdiction. One such regulation was the requirement that new companies ensure that their registered capital was fully paid within five years. Jiaoying Dong further explained that such a requirement would result in heightened due diligence by companies, and that the current regime of laws also requires banks to adhere to timely reporting obligations. She concluded her presentation by providing suggestions on improvements, such as banks conducting regular training on steps that could be taken to prevent and detect money laundering activities.
The final speaker of the session was Dr Manoj Gorkela, Special Counsel of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, India. Dr Gorkela pointed out that money laundering was a difficult problem to resolve in India, and explained that while there are good investigative agencies, there could be an improvement on the number of court actions instituted in response to money laundering activities. Dr Gorkela next called for the establishment of an international money laundering court to address this issue, as it often concerns cross-border transactions.
The session concluded with a panel discussion, followed by questions and answers from the floor.
During the panel discussion, Martin Lim stated that conducting anti-money laundering investigations is time-consuming because of the need to separate “legal” money from “illegal” proceeds. Babu Raj Raja Gopal suggested that this matter could be dealt with by placing the obligation on the directors of companies to report the source of the proceeds obtained.
In response to a question from the floor on the status of legal fees paid from “illegal” proceeds, Dr Gorkela stated that there needs to be a specific law to address this matter in India; while Babu Raj Raja Gopal expressed his view that such legal fees were not tainted as they were monies obtained for a legitimate purpose.