Macao's Legislative Assembly (LA) has approved a bill on the
prevention and repression of money laundering, local media reported
on Friday.
The Macao Post Daily quoted LA sources as saying that
the article-by-article vote took 40 minutes on Thursday following
several weeks of discussions.
The 12-article bill lists a string of businesses and professions
that are obligated to fight money laundering, including credit
institutions, financial agencies, currency exchanges and casinos,
according to the newspaper.
The bill requires a prison term ranging from two to eight years
if the money laundering charges are convicted, the sources were
cited.
A Macao-based bank in 2005 was alleged by the United States
authorities for being involved in a money-laundering case, which
put the region under the international spot light.
The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has
since spared no effort to stress its determination in combating
money laundering crimes.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2006)
