Public Order | 323
and schedule 6 of the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance to require remittance agents and money changers to verify customers' identity and to keep records of transactions of $8,000 or more, instead of the previous threshold of $20,000 or above.
Since the enactment of the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance and the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance, assets valued at $435 million have been confiscated and handed to the Government. As at December 31, 2006, assets amounting to $67 million have been ordered to be confiscated and were pending recovery. A further sum of $1.41 billion was put on hold pending confiscation proceedings under the two ordinances.
On education, the ND and the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit co-organised two seminars in January 2006 for estate agents. In September, they organised a series of seminars for banks, insurance, securities, trust and company service providers, money lenders, remittance and money changing companies, precious metals and stones dealers, and estate agents. The ND set up focus groups in four of these sectors to discuss issues related to the implementation of the FATF Recommendations. The ND was also preparing an interactive training kit to assist these sectors in identifying suspicious transactions. International cooperation is vital in combating transnational crimes such as money laundering.
Hong Kong participated actively in FATF and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), an FATF-style regional inter-governmental organisation. The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a legal expert to take part in the FATF's mutual evaluation of the UK in November/December 2006. In October, a Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) officer participated in a study by the FATF Typologies Project Team on a subject entitled 'Laundering the Proceeds of Missing Trader Intra- Community (MTIC) Carousel Fraud'. Representatives from the Police Force and C&ED also attended the FATF/Eurasian Group joint typologies meeting in Shanghai in November. Officers from the Police and C&ED participated in the APG's annual typologies workshop held in Indonesia in November. Officers from the Police Force and DoJ took part in the APG mutual evaluation of Sri Lanka in March and Mongolia in December. In addition, various government departments continued to facilitate the granting of legal assistance to other jurisdictions in accordance with bilateral agreements. By year-end, Hong Kong had concluded 21 mutual legal assistance agreements and 16 surrender-of-fugitive-offenders agreements.
Independent Commission Against Corruption
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is an anti-corruption agency independent of the civil service. Its commissioner is directly accountable to the Chief Executive.
During the year, the ICAC continued to keep corruption in check through its three-pronged strategy of investigation, prevention and community education. As a result of sustained anti-corruption efforts, Hong Kong continued to be rated by international institutions as one of the most corruption-free places in the world.