Last December’s decision by the Monetary Authority of Macao to halve the amount of money that can be withdrawn from an ATM in a single transaction appears to have done little to slow down monthly withdrawal rates which continue to top HK$10 billion in 2017.
According to a report in the South China Morning Post, withdrawals have continued at such a high rate this year that monetary bosses have ordered Macau’s banks to monitor the city’s 1,300 ATMs 24/7 to ensure they never run out of cash.
“The amounts are eye-watering – HK$10 billion-a-month is a conservative estimate,” a SCMP source told the newspaper. “The banks have been told to make sure every ATM is monitored on a 24-7 basis so as soon as cash levels get low, a team is ready to fill the machine back up, on a 24/7 basis.”
Last year, the single withdrawal maximum was lowered from HK$10,000 to HK$5,000 although the daily maximum of HK$10,000 remained. Either way, Macau has continued its impressive resurgence in 2017 with gross gaming revenue up 16.3% year-on-year in April to MOP$17.3 billion – the ninth straight month of growth.
On Friday, the Monetary Authority of Macao responded to the revelations, stating that it, “has always been highly concerned about the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism monitoring measures of the financial sector and has formulated the ‘Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Guideline’ in accordance with international standards set out by the ‘Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’.
“The AMCM has always made it clear that all financial institutions must strictly abide by the relevant laws and regulations, including compliance with relevant AML/CFT regulatory and supervisory requirements.
“According to the AML/CFT Guideline of the AMCM, all financial institutions authorized to operate in Macau including banks should establish and implement an adequate and appropriate AML/CFT system. Based on a risk-based approach, these institutions should conduct appropriate and reasonable due diligence at account opening and when conducting transactions. All financial institutions should also set up an effective monitoring mechanism to identify any unusual transaction patterns and make a suspicious transaction report to the Financial Intelligence Office.”
The news of Macau’s ATM workload comes ahead of this week’s visit by Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), Mr Zhang Dejiang, who is set to make an important announcement during his stay.
Macau Chief Executive Mr Chui Sai On said on Saturday that Mr Zhang would also hear opinions from different groups on a wide range of topics during his Macau visit, while Mr Chui will brief him on the government’s work and the latest developments in the city’s progress.
