Office of the Commissioner of Insurance - Circulars on Anti-Money Laundering Matters in 2004

Further to my letter of 9 July 2004, I am writing to advise you that an updated list of names designated by the relevant United Nations Security Council Committee was published in the Gazette (G.N. 4594 and G.N. 4780) on 23 July 2004 and 30 July 2004 in accordance with the Ordinance and the Regulation respectively. The new list is available on the Government website (www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/). under Gazette: Government Notice published on 23 July 2004 and 30 July 2004. To facilitate the update of your electronic database, a copy of the list in MS Word format is also available on the Insurance Authority's website (www.info.gov.hk/oci/framework/index04.htm).

Compared with the names advised in my letter of 9 July 2004, the following names of individuals and entities have been added to the new list :

Part C (Individuals belonging to or associated with the Al-Qaida organization)
Mohamed Ben Mohamed ABDELHEDI (item 6)
Aqeel Abdulaziz AL-AQIL (item 20)
Hassan Abdullah Hersi AL-TURKI (item 38)
Kamel DARRAJI (item 73)
Mohamed EL MAHFOUDI (item 80)
Imed Ben Bechir JAMMALI (item 103)
Habib Ben Ahmed LOUBIRI (item 117)
Chabaane Ben Mohamed TRABELSI (item 159)

Part D (Entities belonging to or associated with the Al-Qaida organization)
Al-Haramain & Al Masjed Al-Aqsa Charity Foundation (item 19)
Al-Haramain Afghanistan Branch (item 20)
Al-Haramain Albania Branch (item 21)
Al-Haramain Bangladesh Branch (item 22)
Al-Haramain Ethiopia Branch (item 23)
Al-Haramain The Netherlands Branch (item 28)

In addition, information on the following individual has been updated :

Part C (Individuals belonging to or associated with the Al-Qaida organization)
Youssef ABDAOUI (item 5)

Meanwhile, the US Government added two new aliases to an entity, the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) under the Executive Order on 13 July 2004. The two new aliases, Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, can be found in the website of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury (www.ustreas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/sanctions/terrorism.html) under the heading of "Details of Specially Designated Global Terrorist [SDGT] Entities".

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 (2003)

Further to my letter of 19 January 2004, the United Nations Security Council Committee established under the Resolution 1518 (2003) has recently added a number of individuals and entities, whose financial assets should be frozen and transferred to the Development Fund for Iraq, to the lists identified for the purpose of paragraph 23 of the Resolution 1483. The respective lists of the designated individuals and entities can be found on the United Nations website (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1518/1518SanctionsCommEng.htm).

You should review your records carefully to see whether you have had, or currently have, accounts, transactions or dealings with the named individuals or entities. If such review reveals any suspicious accounts, transactions or dealings, you should promptly notify the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit. You are also reminded to browse the above websites regularly for the latest information.

Should you have any enquiries, please contact Mr. William Hsieh at 2867 4529 or Miss Connie Cheng at 2867 4815.