WATCHDOG PLACES CAMBODIA ON MONEY LAUNDERING WATCHLIST

JAKARTA— The Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernment organization, placed Cambodia on its watchlist on Friday threatening the international financial, investment and trade flows to and from the Southeast Asian country.

FATF president Marshall Billingslea said Cambodia had “significant deficiencies.”

Running the gamut

“It really runs the gamut,” he told reporters, though added that Cambodia had made a “high-level political commitment” to address the problem.

The FATF listing comes as Cambodia faces the loss of preferential trade treatment from the European Union due to concerns over its human rights record.

Cambodia’s inclusion on the list follows an FATF “mutual evaluation report” on its policies to counter money laundering and terrorism financing conducted in 2017.

Damning observations

The report said Cambodia’s judicial system had “high levels of corruption” and “Cambodia has made minimal use of financial intelligence in investigating money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Cambodian Financial Intelligence Unit did not supervise its booming casino and real estate sectors, long identified as highly exposed to money laundering by organized crime groups.