Hong Kong watching money-laundering

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a supplementary letter to its anti-money laundering guidelines, asking banks to identify high-risk customers and beef up due diligence on them. Among potentially high-risk customers, the HKMA listed heads of state and other politicians, senior judicial and military officials and correspondent banks in �non-cooperative jurisdictions.� The authority cited Indonesia and the Philippines as examples. The authority also warned banks to be on the lookout for offshore companies set up to disguise their ownership. Suspicious money laundering cases jumped 10% since banks initiated RMB services in Hong Kong in February, according to HKMA executive director of banking policy Simon Topping.