25 July 2008

The Chief Executive
All authorized institutions

Dear Sir/Madam,

United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance and List of Names for Suspicious Account Reporting

I am writing to inform you of the following developments:

(i)  United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance

An updated list of terrorists and terrorist associates designated by the United Nations Security Council Committee (Committee) has been specified under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance (Cap. 575).  The list was published in the Gazette (G.N. 4982) today and is available on the Government's website (http://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette).  The changes, compared with the last gazettal on 23 May 2008, are summarised in Annex 1 and the relevant press releases issued by the Committee are attached at Annex 2.  A copy of the list in MS Word format is enclosed to assist authorized institutions in updating their electronic database.

You are reminded to check your records and report any transactions or relationships your institution has or has had with the named persons or entities to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit and the HKMA. 

(ii)  List of names for suspicious account reporting

The US Government has recently added several individuals to the list under US Executive Order 13224.  The relevant information can be found on the website of the US Treasury under the heading of "Name of individuals designated on 07-17-08" (http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/terror/terror.pdf).

You are reminded to check your records and report any transactions or relationships your institution has or has had with the named persons to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit and the HKMA.  You are also recommended to browse the US Treasury website (including the FinCEN website) regularly for the latest information.

Yours faithfully,

Karen Kemp
Executive Director (Banking Policy)