The first Counter-Terrorism and Proliferation of Weapon of Mass Destruction Financing Act of Thailand (“First Act”) has been enforced since 31 December 2016 in order to keep the anti-money laundering measures in financing up to the international standard determined by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (“FATF”).
After 8 years of enforcing the First Act, it is seen that some legal provisions of the First Act tend to be too burdensome and inadequate for the enforcement in practice. The Counter-Terrorism and Proliferation of Weapon of Mass Destruction Financing Act (No.2) B.E. 2567 (“Second Act”) , which amends the First Act will be in effect on 16 May 2025.In the above respect, the material changes to the First Act, under the Second Act, can be summarized as follows:
1) Provision of an exemption for the basic necessary expenses not to be frozen as a part of assets of the designated persons and the relevant persons stated under section 8(1) of the First Act has been added. Examples of ‘basic necessary expenses’ are food expenses, rents, medical fees, taxes, insurance premiums, and utilities fees;
2) A petition to settle debts on behalf of the designated persons can be filed by any person to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (“Office”) instead of the court, as previously required by the First Act. In addition, if that person is the reporting person freezing the assets of the designated person and the payment is for a contract made before the date of announcement of such designed person, the reporting person can proceed the payment without filing a petition to the Office;
3) Extension of authorities of the Office to not only collect information and evidence for the assets freezing, seizure or confiscation but also for any action in connection with the designation or delisting of the designated persons. Also, in some cases, the Office can demand any reporting persons and professionals under the anti-money laundering law, or any others to give or send statements, or send accounting documents or evidence for their consideration; and
4) Liabilities due to providing, collecting, or conducting financial or asset transactions for the designated persons by knowing that the beneficiary of such financial or asset transactions is a designated person, have been added for clarity in legal enforcement.
Aside from the above, there are still other changes that the reporting persons should consider and closely follows to be in compliance with the legal changes in all aspects.