Watchdog removes Taiwan from money-laundering list

Taiwan has been removed from the watch list of a regional body of an international financial action task force, according to Taiwanese media reports.

The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) dropped Taiwan from the list after a meeting of the group in Sri Lanka last week, Taiwan Today reported Thursday, citing the country's Justice Ministry.

Taiwan is the only one to be removed from the 10-member transitional follow-up list, which includes Afghanistan, Brunei, Laos, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam, it said.

It underlined that Taipei had made considerable headway in tackling money laundering over the years, demonstrating the government's commitment to implementing legislation to combat financial crimes.

A founding member of APG, Taiwan received a positive review in 2001 in the group's first round of mutual evaluations.

During the second round in 2007, however, the organization that the nation was not in full compliance with all international standards against money laundering and terrorist financing, according to the report.

Following APG's 2007 decision, Taiwan was relegated to the "regular follow-up list." In 2014, the nation was placed on the "transitional follow-up list," which covers jurisdictions that need to step up their efforts against money laundering, it added.