The Asian Development Bank (ADB) projects a robust growth of 6% for Cambodia's economy in 2024, propelled by the manufacturing and services sectors. This promising trend is set to continue in 2025, buoyed by infrastructure investments and regional trade pacts. Cambodia is actively steering towards building a digital future, aiming to bridge the rural-urban gap and fortify the economy. This article will delve into the pivotal role of Cambodia's regulatory bodies and the necessary regulations to foster technological advancement and development.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Status
Cambodia was on the FATF Grey List of Countries identified as having strategic AML deficiencies. However, following the latest evaluation in 2023, Cambodia was successfully removed from the EU Commission's list of High-Risk Countries.
This achievement underscores Cambodia's significant strides in enhancing its AML/CTF regime and bolstering its effectiveness. The evaluation results are testament to Cambodia's compliance, with 2 Compliant and 31 Largely Compliant ratings out of the FATF 40 Recommendations. It maintains a commendable track record with 0 Highly Effective and Substantially Effective ratings for the Effectiveness and technical Compliance categories.
Who are the Cambodian regulators?
In Cambodia, no single regulatory authority is responsible for enforcing compliance and privacy laws or safeguarding customer data within organisations.
Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG)
The purpose of APG is to ensure the adoption, implementation and enforcement of internationally accepted anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards as set out in the FATF Forty Recommendations and FATF Eight Special Recommendations.
National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)
The nation's central bank is the monetary and supervisory authority. The mission of the NBC is to determine and direct the monetary policy aimed at maintaining price stability. This mission will help facilitate economic development within the framework of the kingdom's economic and financial policy. The NBC can license, delicense, regulate and supervise banks, including financial institutions, as the Cambodian supervisory authority.
Cambodia Financial Intelligence Unit (“CAFIU”)
An independent decision-maker under the NBC. CAFIU's legal functions include the receipt of suspicious and cash transaction reports. When there is reason to believe that there is a money laundering or terrorist financing offense, they collect information related to money laundering and the financing of terrorism, analyze received reports, and disseminate analyses to law enforcement.
Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU)
Certain provisions of the criminal law regarding money laundering are subject to the anti-corruption regime in Cambodia. The ACU is a particular body tasked with investigating and enforcing corruption crimes.
Relevant regulations
On 27 June 2020, Cambodia issued the new Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (‘the 2020 AML/CFT Law') – Replacing the previous 2007 law and the 2013 sub-decree that accompanied the former law. All other laws relevant to AML have remained in effect.
The 2020 AML/CFT Law, which comprises nine chapters and 47 articles, aims to further prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing in Cambodia by increasing the scope of the law's reach and general deterrence measures. In many ways identical to its predecessor, the 2020 AML/CFT Law differs in three significant ways from the 2007 law:
It provides more specific definitions for terms used throughout the law.
It requires reporting entities to introduce enhanced due diligence measures to maintain compliance.
It introduces increased penalties for non-compliance with the law.
What ID documents can I verify in Cambodia?
Any Cambodian citizen can be verified using government or credit data sources. Based on the documentation verified against the data sources, the name, date of birth, and address can be validated. Cambodian citizens can be verified using the following documents:
National Identity Card
The “Khmer National Identity Card” is the national identity card provided to the citizens of Cambodia by the General Department of Identification. It is a mandatory source of identification that can verify an individual's name, gender, date of birth (DOB), and address. Essential details such as their complete home address, ID Cambodia number, and fingerprints are stored electronically and not noted on the card. Additionally, a scanned copy of the holder's birth certificate and the relevant page of their family book is stored electronically. In 2011, the government implemented a new biometric legal identity card.
Passport
The General Department of Identification issues citizens' passports for international travel, and in 2014 the government introduced the new biometric passport. You can verify your customers' nationality, name, and DOB.
Driver Licence
In today's digital age, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport will issue a driver's licence in the form of a smart card. In Cambodia, citizens are not required to carry their licenses around at all times. You can verify your customers' names, addresses, DOBs, and licence numbers.
AML Screening
In addition to verifying ID documents, AML screening can be conducted on Cambodian customers, ensuring compliance with the regulatory bodies mentioned before.
Data Zoo's access to global watchlists can identify if Cambodian citizens are high-risk individuals or entities by screening your customers' against PEPs, Sanctions, and adverse media lists.
With Cambodia's continued growth in digital financial services, now and into 2025, companies needing to verify the identity of Cambodian citizens must ensure their data is accurate, reliable, and compliant with the regulators.
If you need to verify Cambodian nationals, see how Data Zoo can help.