Following a recent spurt of AML/CFT blunders by overseas branches of Chinese banks including Bank of China, Industrial Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China, Chinese authorities are looking to step up AML scrutiny.

Yan Lixin, acting director of the China Center for Anti-Money Laundering Studies of Fudan University, claimed that some managers of the affected banks have inadequate awareness on how to fight money laundering and improve regulatory compliance.

Yan recommended that Chinese banks set up new anti-money laundering models – self-define standards of suspicious transactions that a bank should report to China’s central bank, to identify money laundering practices based on analysis and reasonable suspicion.