Bank of Thailand to Crack Down on Grey Money and USDT Trading

Prachachat•Economy•21d ago

Reader Briefing

The Bank of Thailand is implementing measures to block financial channels for grey money, online gambling, and corruption, including new regulations for payment providers.

•The Bank of Thailand is targeting four structural financial issues: household debt, SME loan access, fair financial system access, and grey money/corruption.
•Cash withdrawals exceeding 1 million baht have decreased by over 50% and gold withdrawals by over 70% following stricter measures.
•The Bank of Thailand and the SEC found abnormally high USDT trading volumes amounting to hundreds of billions over the past 4-5 months.
•A new regulation prohibiting payment service providers from supporting grey businesses and online gambling will be published in the Royal Gazette next week.

Overview

•Withai Rattanakorn of the Bank of Thailand spoke at the ZERO Corruption event organized by the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking (JSCCIB) and Friends Do Not Tolerate.
•The Bank of Thailand established a requirement since April 1 that cash withdrawals exceeding 1 million baht must be verified and the purpose of funds specified.
•Monthly cash withdrawals exceeding 1 million baht dropped from approximately 100,000 million baht to approximately 50,000 million baht.
•The Bank of Thailand requires reports for gold withdrawals exceeding 2 kilograms or approximately 10 million baht in value, resulting in a decrease of over 70% in gold withdrawals.
•The Bank of Thailand and the SEC detected hundreds of billions in USDT trades over 4-5 months, which Withai Rattanakorn identified as money laundering and capital flight.
•The Bank of Thailand defined 24 suspicious transaction patterns for banks to detect, such as repeated small transfers inconsistent with trade.
•The Bank of Thailand enhanced account opening standards using KYC, CDD, and EDD for high-risk groups.
•The Bank of Thailand will issue a notification in the Royal Gazette next week to forbid payment providers from serving grey businesses or online gambling.

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Source: Prachachat (Original)

Key Quotes

Withai Rattanakorn

"Payment service providers cannot accept payments for grey capital or provide payment services for online gambling. This announcement will be in the Royal Gazette next week."

ผู้ให้บริการรับชำระเงิน Payment จะไปรับชำระให้กับทุนเทา จะไปรับให้บริการชำระให้กับพนันออนไลน์ ทำไม่ได้ครับ ประกาศนี้จะลงราชกิจจาฯ อาทิตย์หน้า

Key Entities

Organization

Bank of Thailand(ธปท.)ℹ️

The central bank of Thailand working to close financial loopholes for grey money and corruption.

Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking(กกร.)

An organization that co-hosted the ZERO Corruption event.

Securities and Exchange Commission(สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกำกับหลักทรัพย์และตลาดหลักทรัพย์ (ก.ล.ต.))ℹ️

The agency that collaborated with the Bank of Thailand to investigate abnormal USDT trading volumes.

Royal Gazette(ราชกิจจานุเบกษา)

The official government publication where the new payment service provider regulations will be listed.

Person

Withai Rattanakorn(วิทัย รัตนากร)

Governor of the Bank of Thailand.