effectively curb and combat these activities. the measures adopted by macao in aml can be traced back to 1991 in which decree - law no. 5 / 91 / m was promulgated to enable the government to confiscate assets derived from drug trafficking. the 1995 penal code unequivocally stipulates that all assets or gains through criminal activities shall be confiscated. the law on organized crime, decree - law no. 6 / 97 / m in 1997, goes further to deal with crimes relating to conversion, transfer or dissimulation of illicit assets or gains arising from criminal activities. decree - law no. 24 / 98 / m promulgated in 1998 implements mandatory reporting of suspicious activities, the entities under the supervision of amcm are especially obliged to do so. in 2002, law no. 4 / 2002 was passed to implement measures under international conventions signed and ratified by the central government and applicable to the msar. specifically, it enables the anti - terrorist measures under resolution no. 1373 of the united nations security council to be applied to macao. in april, 2006, the sar government promulgated law no. 2 / 2006 on “ prevention and repression of money laundering related crimes ” and law no. 3 / 2006 on “ prevention and repression of terrorism related crimes ”. these two legislations clearly define activities relating to money laundering and terrorism. they also provide that all persons including legal entities bear criminal liability to activities relating to money laundering and terrorism, heavier penalty shall apply, reporting entities shall be protected and reporting entities are forbidden to divulge reporting information to third parties. in may and august of the same year, the sar government promulgated administrative regulation no. 7 / 2006 and executive order of the chief executive no. 227 / 2006 which require all financial institutions, casinos, off - shore companies, auditors, accountants, tax consultants, notaries, pawn shops, real estate agents and entities selling articles of high value to report suspicious activities to the newly set up financial intelligence office which will collect and analyze such information. as far as financial system is concerned, amcm has been putting its utmost efforts in promoting the implementation of aml / cft measures by financial institutions. the “ financial system act ” promulgated in 1993 requires, based on the standards set by the basel committee, all credit institutions to identify their customers and keep records of transactions in addition to scrutinizing the properness and qualification of the shareholders and senior management.

in 1996, amcm issued guidelines relating to aml to be complied by all credit institutions. these guidelines were revised in 2002 whereby they were edited into two sections. the scope of application was extended to include financial companies, financial intermediaries, money changers and cash remittance companies. meanwhile, aml guidelines applicable to insurance industry were issued in 2001. as the modes of crimes relating to money laundering and financing of terrorism are evolving all the time, the financial action task force on money laundering ( fatf ) modified the original text into 40 + 8 recommendations in 2003. one more was added in 2004 making it 40 + 9 which became the benchmark for aml / cft applicable to the international community. last year, in order to fully synchronize with the aml / cft legislations passed in 2006, amcm revised again its guidelines by taking into account the new international standards and the practical situation of macao in addition to in - depth review and consultation with industry practitioners. three sets of new guidelines were issued, “ aml / cft guidelines for financial institutions ”, “ aml / cft guidelines on large cash transactions ” and “ guidelines on aml / cft in insurance ”. in the process, amcm invited the international monetary fund ( imf ) to provide technical assistance. experts from the imf came to macao in 2004 and 2006 and provided expertise advice on our revised guidelines and on - site inspection which perfected our effort in supervision. simultaneously, amcm committed more resources internally for such purpose which included an internal aml / cft co - ordination working unit to strengthen co - ordination and planning of aml work. besides our continued effort to improve our capacity in this respect, amcm also provides training for the industry and relevant agencies in co - ordination and organization in order to enrich aml knowledge of the community and to impart the concept of prevention to the general public. on the other hand amcm proactively participates in the work of the trans - departmental aml working unit which was founded in 2001. before the inauguration of the financial intelligence office, amcm was responsible for general coordination with other government agencies including public prosecutions office, unitary police service, commission against corruption, legal affairs bureau, international law office, judicial police, macao customs service, economics services bureau, finance services bureau, gaming inspection and coordination bureau, macao trade and investment promotion institute, macao lawyers association, independent commission for the