The People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, is preparing the Regulations on Anti Money Laundering in Financial Institutions, according to the bank's Governor Dai Xianglong.

Dai made the remarks during an anti money laundering conference, recently held in Beijing. "Relevant regulations concerning the administration of payment dealings reports, temporary regulations of suspicious forex, and large-scale capital in financial institutions will be established to improve the laws governing anti money laundering," he said. It's the first time that China's banks have held such a conference to discuss these issues.

An analysis and supervision system of financial dealings and information communication mechanism will be established, in order to crack down on financial crimes such as money laundering. To date, the main focus of the institution has been to standardize account administration, strengthen forex management, and crack down on illegal banks.

During the conference banks were urged to administer financial regulations such as the Regulations on the Real Name System for Personal Bank Accounts, and strengthen training on anti money laundering. In addition, international cooperation to crack down on money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities was also emphasized.

China has so far promulgated a series of regulations to standardize financial dealings. The regulations, which have already been established by the People's Bank of China and State Administration of Foreign Exchange, include Measures on Account Administration, Measures on Domestic Forex Account Administration, the Circulation on the Administration of Large-scale Cash Payment, and Measures on Recordation of Large-scaled Cash Payments. Currently, the real name system for personal bank account is already being carried out. Commercial banks, on the other hand, have introduced their own regulations on anti money laundering.

Mr. Dai pointed out that, "Commercial banks should prevent these financial crimes by improving and implementing the financial dealings system in strict accordance with the regulations, joining hands with the justice department to crack down on illegal money laundering."

As a financial supervision institution, the People's Bank of China will monitor the implementation of the financial dealings system, maintain depositors' rights, and assist other departments to crack down on financial crimes.

As early as September last year, the People's Bank of China set up a leading team on anti money laundering, to monitor such issues in China's banking industry. In July this year, a special institution was set up to supervise suspicious large-scale payments and financial dealings. Some commercial banks also established relevant departments to monitor anti money laundering through their own institutions.

(china.org.cn by Tang Fuchun, September 25, 2002)