Legal Development and Asset Proceedings under the Anti-Money Laundering Law

Abstract

The objectives of this research study were 1) to study concepts and theories relating to measures of asset proceedings under law on anti-money laundering 2) to study the mechanism of law enforcement and measures of asset proceedings under law on anti-money laundering in Thailand and foreign countries 3) to study problems and obstacles of asset proceedings under law on anti-money laundering 4) to study the evaluation of laws and effectiveness under international standard on anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing 5) to suggest guidelines on drafts of anti-money laundering act (No. …) and 6) to propose guidelines on integration for enforcement of asset proceedings measures under anti-money laundering law. The study found 5 issues in asset proceedings measures under law on anti-money laundering that are 1) predicate offences are not consistent with international standard 2) receiving data for asset proceedings does not have clear legal power base 3) duration of temporary seizure or freezing of assets is not flexible in law enforcement 4) there is no criterion of scope of action about right protection of damaged persons caused by the predicate offence and stakeholders and 5) legal execution does not take action as Court’s order in some cases. The recommendations of this research are amending 14 sections of Anti-Money Laundering Act and drafting Anti-Money Laundering Act (No. …) to address in problem and weakness of asset proceedings measures. Moreover, the important policy recommendations are creating pro-active measures and building network among relevant agencies for steering anti-money laundering law enforcement.