APAC Monthly Private Wealth Legal Developments – October 2020

Welcome to Herbert Smith Freehills' new monthly private wealth industry updates in Asia.

Every month we survey ten Asian jurisdictions for legal developments concerning trust and estate planning which are of interest to the private wealth industry, and provide a succinct summary in a table format.  The jurisdictions covered in the update are Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. We hope that these updates will prove to be a useful resource to keep private clients, business people, and lawyers abreast of legal updates in the region.

Hong Kong

Consultation launched on AML guidelines

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has launched a three-month consultation on proposals to amend its anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines. The proposed amendments address areas identified in the Financial Action Task Force's September 2019 mutual evaluation report, primarily: institutional and customer risk assessments; risk mitigation for cross-border correspondent relationships; suspicious transactions and third-party deposits and payments; further guidance on persons purporting to act on behalf of the customer and establishing sources of funds. Consultation closes on 18 December 2020.

China 

FATF renews enhanced scrutiny of AML regime

The global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has kept China in its intensive monitoring process, after a follow-up report showed it has not yet done enough to remedy the anti-money laundering (AML) failings identified in FATF's 2019 evaluation. The country remains non-compliant on six of the 40 FATF recommendations, although it is now compliant on seven and largely compliant on 18.

Indonesia

Indonesia to set up $5 bln sovereign wealth fund soon

Indonesia is preparing to set up a sovereign wealth fund with an initial equity of about $5 billion, which would be aimed to attract $15 billion in investment, its finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in a news conference on Wednesday.

The government would inject up to 30 trillion rupiah ($2.04 billion) in cash for its equity and added other assets, including stakes in state companies, Sri Mulyani said.

The formation of the fund follows the passage of the government’s sweeping Job Creation bill.

The contents of this document are for reference purposes only. Some of the information comes from public sources and this may not be comprehensive, accurate or up to date; where we have relied on third party information and sources, this has not been verified by us. The document does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication, and any facts in this document should be checked for your specific circumstances at the time you wish to use or refer to them.