The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering's (APG) Mutual Evaluation Committee announced at its online meeting Thursday that Taiwan has maintained its "regular follow-up" status—the APG's most favorable category—based on our submission of the required 2021 follow-up report. This follows Taiwan's placement in the APG's "regular follow-up" category after the third round of mutual evaluations back in October of 2019.
The Executive Yuan's Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) stated that in October of 2019, the APG report following the third round of mutual evaluations placed Taiwan in the "regular follow-up" category, the organization's most favorable category and the highest ranking in the Asia-Pacific region. As Premier Su Tseng-chang has often said, the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and weapons proliferation does not end when evaluations are completed, and must be pursued with even greater vigor. To continue to harmonize with international standards and become a respected international partner, any shortcomings in our legal system, enforcement and supervision must be improved.
According to the rules of the APG mutual evaluation process, Taiwan was required to submit follow-up reports every two years after 2019 to demonstrate our continued commitment to combating money laundering and countering terrorism financing, the AMLO said. The AMLO has therefore convened many interministerial meetings since December 2019, and continues to invite public and private-sector entities to assess the nation's risks regarding money laundering, terrorism financing and weapons proliferation financing.
The AMLO emphasized that the writing, submission and confirmation of this year's follow-up report once again showcases the collaboration among Taiwan's government agencies as well as our ability and efforts to facilitate horizontal communication and coordination, and that we will continue those efforts going forward.