Macau introduces currency declaration bill

slators in Macau have approved a bill which would require incoming visitors to declare how much currency they are bringing into the country.

The 33 members of Macau’s legislative assembly passed the bill in attempts to stop money launderers from funnelling money from Macau into China.

Under the new legislation, travellers entering the country are required to complete a declaration form if they are in possession of MOP120,000 ($15,000) or more in currency or travellers cheques.

Completed declaration forms will be held by the Macau Custom Service for a period of five years.

The new bill is set to be implemented on November 1st 2017 and is the latest in a series of changes by the Chinese and Macau authorities designed to clampdown on the flow of illegal money and follows the introduction of facial recognition software on ATM machines last month in attempt to stop proxy betting on casino gaming floors.

Chinese authorities have also announced the introduction of a new policy requiring the collection of information on every overseas cash withdrawal or merchant transaction which exceeds a threshold of RMB1,000 to be reported to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on a daily basis.

This legislation applies to transactions conducted via use of any mainland China-issued bank card, including debit and credit cards.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, SAFE said: “Following the increasing demand to collaborate internationally on anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and to counter tax invasion, there is a need to enhance the transparency of the statistics of cross-border transactions on bank cards as well as the quality of such data.”