Macau, China, Aug. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Macau and Sao Tome and Príncipe are to sign an agreement to exchange information to promote the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the government of the Chinese semi-autonomous region announced on Monday.
According to a decree published in the territory's Official Gazette, the protocol involves the exchange of «financial information» to promote compliance with anti-money laundering measures, address «associated predicate offences», counter the financing of terrorism, and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Macau will sign the memorandum of understanding with the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Príncipe.
According to the order, which Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai signed on 17 February, the Secretary for Security, Chan Tsz King, may delegate this task to the Commander-General of the Unitary Police Services (SPU), Leong Man Cheong.
The Macau Information Bureau (GIF), responsible for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, falls under the remit of the SPU.
In March 2022, an annual report by the US Department of State highlighted Macau as a key location for money laundering activities.
According to the GIF's annual report, in 2019 Macau became the only member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) to comply with «all 40 international standards» on the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In May 2025, Macau also signed an agreement with Angola to exchange information, with a view to preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Macau's GIF has signed agreements on the exchange of information with 33 countries and territories, including the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Portuguese Judicial Police in 2008, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Timor-Leste in 2018, and, in 2019, the Brazilian Financial Activities Control Council and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Cabo Verde.
The number of suspicious transactions recorded at Macau's casinos rose by 8.7% in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2025, according to official GIF data.
Macau's six casino operators submitted a total of 2,018 reports of transactions suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing between January and June.
At the end of May, the regional government also announced that the Personal Data Protection Services Bureau (DSPDP) would sign cooperation agreements with its counterparts in Sao Tome and Príncipe and Cabo Verde.
Two weeks later, the DSPDP stated that the agreements would enhance «the cooperation framework between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in the areas of data security and the protection of personal privacy».
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