Gov’t sees 10% rise in suspicious transaction reports

Macau recorded a 10% increase in suspicious transaction reports in the first quarter of 2026, as authorities warn that rapid growth in virtual assets, digital payments and cross-border fraud is reshaping the city’s financial crime landscape.

The data was revealed at the “2026 Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Financial Crime Annual Conference” held during the weekend at the Macau Tower, where nearly 300 regulators and experts from the gaming, banking, and legal sectors gathered to confront a singular reality: compliance checklists are no longer enough.

According to the Financial Intelligence Office (GIF), authorities received 1,356 suspicious transaction reports in Q1 2026, a sharp increase from the same period last year. This surge comes on the heels of 4,925 reports filed in 2025, of which approximately 70% originated from the gaming industry and 20% from financial institutions.

Notably, 118 cases were referred to the Public Prosecutions Office last year, with a significant number linked to fraud.

“Anti-money laundering is the first line of defense for financial security,” said Fong Iun Kei, deputy director of the GIF, speaking at the conference. “But facing new risks – including fraud, electronic payments, and virtual assets – no single jurisdiction or institution can cope alone.”

The most urgent call to action came from Chan Weng Tat, president of the Macau Anti-Money Laundering Specialists Association (MAMLSA), who declared that Macau must evolve beyond “institutional compliance” and pivot toward “substantive effectiveness.”

“Macau is an international free port and a key node of the Greater Bay Area (GBA),” Chan said. “Our financial security is not just a local economic issue; it is deeply tied to the long-term stability of the nation.”

Chan stressed that the era of simple reporting is over, urging financial firms and gaming operators to deploy advanced technology, strengthen internal controls, and dramatically expand cross-industry intelligence sharing.

The technological front line

Tang Weng Fong, deputy director of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM), revealed that emergency payment stoppage measures, first introduced in 2017, blocked over 680 fraud cases last year, securing more than MOP84 million that would have otherwise been lost.

In a major upgrade this March, the “Anti-Fraud App” was fully integrated with the “Easy Transfer” system, enabling near-instantaneous interception of suspicious flows. The move is part of a broader collaboration between the Judiciary Police (PJ) and Macau’s banking sector that now includes a pilot cross-border information-sharing scheme with Guangdong province, launched in 2025.

The gathering also served as a platform for Macau to prepare for its upcoming Asia/Pacific Group (APG) mutual evaluation, scheduled for 2028–2029. Experts warned that the evaluation will focus less on whether policies exist and more on whether they actually stop money laundering.