AL | Asset-freezing law to be ready ‘on time’

Aspect of yesterday’s meeting

Although Macau’s first-ever asset-freezing law is considered “highly technical” and with “a lot of content that isn’t of easy comprehension,” it will be “ready as soon as possible,” according to the president of the 1st Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL), Kwan Tsui Hang, speaking on the sidelines of yesterday’s committee meeting.
In March, the AL gave an initial green light to the asset-freezing law, which was unanimously approved on its first reading and
is currently undergoing detailed discussion.
Kwan said that the articles that stirred the most debate were numbers 1 and 4, about determining the assets to be frozen – the “object” – and the decision on the freezing being at the discretion of the Chief Executive (CE).
Regarding the first article, it was necessary to debate and reach a consensus on which assets would be considered in the context of this law as well as the nature of the assets, such as from individuals or a corporation.
Kwan cited an example of the topic, saying, “a company’s headquarters might not be based in Macau, but have a branch installed here. In this case, their assets will be included.”
Regarding the definition of which assets will be targeted to be frozen, the president of the 1st Standing Committee also said that there will be two kinds: “funds and transferable securities.”
Kwan said the purpose of this law is to prevent assets being transferred or made available in any way and that “asset freezing is different from a seizure of assets,” in a way that the freeze is a “temporary measure and for a certain time.”
Regarding article 4, the focus fell on the creation of the Coordination Committee, the entity created to provide technical support for the CE, contributing to his final decision.
Without offering much detail about the composition of the committee, Kwan said that it will deal with technical issues and the investigation, adding, “that work will be done by different public services.”
Kwan also recalled that “this will be an operational committee and not just an advisory committee. So it will be comprised of people with a lot of knowledge and competence in this topic,” she said, but admitted that it “will be necessary to have people from the legal sector.”
An evaluation by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) regarding compliance by the region’s law with the resolution on combating terrorism, as well as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, is expected to take place in the second half of this year.
The UNSC evaluation will seek answers from the Macau government regarding the law. In 2007, a previous evaluation by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering and from the Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors detected this flaw in the legal system and suggested corrections for the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. These problems are now being addressed ahead of the second evaluation.