The Government welcomes the Financial Action Task Force’s recognition of the compliance and effectiveness of Hong Kong's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan made the statement today in response to the task force’s Mutual Evaluation Report of Hong Kong, which assesses the compliance and effectiveness of Hong Kong's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime against the international standards.

The report was examined at the task force’s plenary on June 20 in Orlando, the US.

Hong Kong's system has been assessed to be compliant and effective overall, making it the first jurisdiction in the Asia-Pacific region to have achieved an overall compliant result.

So far only five out of 23 assessed jurisdictions have been rated overall compliant by the task force.

The report said Hong Kong has a strong legal and institutional framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and is particularly effective in the areas of risk identification, law enforcement, asset recovery, counter-terrorist financing and international co-operation.

“It is a proud testament to Hong Kong's commitment to upholding the integrity of the financial system and its reputation as an international financial centre that is safe and clean for doing business," Mr Chan said.

The report is expected to be published in September.

Comprising 39 major economies of the world, the task force is an inter-governmental organisation which sets global standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Hong Kong has been a task force member since 1991.