Malaysia's measures to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) mutual evaluation of Malaysia assessed the effectiveness of the country’s anti-money laundering, countering terrorist financing and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) measures, and their level of compliance with the FATF Recommendations, at the time of an on-site visit in February 2025.
The assessment found that Malaysia has significantly strengthened its defences against illicit finance since 2015, notably by enhancing its legal framework and supervisory approaches. However, Malaysia faces significant challenges in translating money laundering investigations into prosecutions and convictions.
Key findings from the report are set out below.
- Malaysia’s money laundering risks stem from a range of factors, including corruption and fraud (including scams and investment fraud), the presence of an informal economy, rapid growth of digital finance, and the country’s strategic location as a transit hub for smuggling (drug, wildlife, weapons and migrants), human trafficking, organised crime and piracy.
- The country is also exposed to terrorist financing risks due to its geographic proximity to terrorist groups in neighbouring jurisdictions.
- The evaluation found that Malaysia has a sound understanding of its risks, with regular risk assessments, but needs to enrich its understanding in certain areas, including cross-border crimes, as well as third-party and trade-based money laundering.
Source: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Mutualevaluations/mer-malaysia-2025.html
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