Thailand Targets $2B Grey Money With Stricter cand Gold Rules
Thailand has started cracking down on grey money, focusing on both digital cash and gold deals. 'Grey money' is what you call it when...
Quick overview
- Thailand is intensifying its crackdown on grey money, targeting both digital cash and gold transactions linked to illegal activities.
- New regulations will lower the reporting threshold for gold purchases and impose stricter rules on online gold trading platforms.
- A Centralised Data Hub will be established to monitor suspicious activities across various financial sectors, including cryptocurrencies and foreign exchange.
- The government aims to enhance compliance standards for crypto providers and ensure transparency in wallet-to-wallet transactions.
Thailand has started cracking down on grey money, focusing on both digital cash and gold deals. ‘Grey money’ is what you call it when some of these shady funds slide into the system through perfectly legal-looking channels but are linked to some pretty dodgy stuff like crime or tax avoidance. They want to reduce the loopholes that some dodgy traders are using to play the old assets against the new digital platforms.
PM Anutin Charnvirakul chaired a high-level Finance Ministry get-together last Friday, where they tasked regulators with keeping a closer eye on gold trades that don’t involve any physical gold being handed over & tighten up the reins on digital assets.
- They’re setting up a Centralised Data Hub to monitor suspicious activity across all the usual suspects (cryptos, gold, foreign exchange, e-wallets, etc.).
- They’re going to get all the different agencies’ data plugged together through an Open API so they can get a clearer view of the whole picture.
- They’re focusing on closing the gaps between the old way of doing things and the new digital way.
Stricter rules on gold to tackle money laundering
The rules on anti-money laundering (AML) for buying gold are being strengthened. The amount of gold you can buy before you have to report it has been dropped from 2 million baht to a much smaller amount
They’re also cracking down on online gold trading platforms:
- New business tax proposals for any online gold trading that doesn’t involve actually handing over the gold
- All gold service providers will have to start keeping proper accounts and reporting on their activities.
- There will be special accounts to make it easier for the government to conduct audits.
All this will tie in with efforts to address volatility in the currency market. Thailand’s finance ministry reckons that some of the significant movements in gold have been linked to a big gain in the baht last year, which has been causing all sorts of problems for exporters and the tourism industry. They’re thinking about bringing in caps on trading and adjusting the tax system.
A bit tighter on the crypto side as well
SEc has been told to make sure the Travel Rule is being followed to the letter – that means that crypto providers have to know who both the sender and the receiver are in any wallet-to-wallet transfer. All this is going to make it harder for people to do anonymous digital transactions.
For the exchanges, brokers, and service providers out there, all this means a bit more paperwork to deal with:
- New, higher standards for compliance
- You’ll have to do a bit more to verify people’s identities
- You’ll have to report a bit more on what you’re doing
The PM made it clear that the message is the same for both old-fashioned financial crimes and modern digital threats: they need to work together as a team to protect the public and keep the financial system on the straight and narrow. Thailand’s approach to all this is about keeping an eye out for ill-gotten gains sneaking around through different channels – cash, gold, cryptos, and everything in between.
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