Key Takeaways:

• Compliance with anti-money laundering requirements continued to be a focus of supervision and enforcement by the Securities and Futures Commission. This In Depth looks at two recent enforcement actions as a result of breaches of the anti-money laundering statutory provisions and regulatory guidelines.
• We also consider the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s recent thematic review of remote customer on-boarding initiatives, which reminds firms to ensure that the technology meets AML requirements on an ongoing basis.
• These regulatory developments coincide with a recent decision by the Court of Final Appeal that confirmed that the mental element of the offence of dealing with proceeds of crime is an objective test and that a defendant must show that his belief that the relevant proceeds were legitimate was reasonably held.