KhmerTimes-Sept 30, 2026
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Kingdom to strengthen financial oversight, tighten licensing requirements for banks and casinos, and improve coordination among law enforcement agencies to combat money laundering linked to online scams and human trafficking. In a recently released annex to its Cambodia report, the IMF noted that fraud, human trafficking and the laundering of associated proceeds had become issues of macroeconomic significance for the Kingdom, with potential consequences for financial stability, investor confidence and the country’s tourism sector. The report, titled Tackling Fraud, Human Trafficking and the Laundering of the Associated Proceeds, examines vulnerabilities in the Kingdom’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework and identifies priority areas for reform. It warned that the scale of alleged scam activities and associated money laundering had exposed weaknesses in the country’s financial oversight system, with foreign enforcement actions contributing to heightened scrutiny of the Kingdom’s financial institutions. According to the IMF, reactions to sanctions imposed by foreign authorities had exposed the Kingdom’s economy to potential consequences, including enhanced due diligence by foreign correspondent banks dealing with Cambodian banks and declines in deposits and tourist arrivals. The IMF cited a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimating that hundreds of industrial-scale scam centers operating in the Mekong region generated just under $40 billion in annual profits. The report said criminal proceeds were typically laundered through casinos, shell companies, virtual-asset service providers, underground banking networks, payment processors and real estate, with funds moving across regional and international financial hubs.
Cambodia’s 2025 updated National Risk Assessment identified fraud as posing a medium-to-high money laundering threat, while human trafficking was classified as a medium-level threat.
Payment service institutions, casinos, real estate and lawyers were assessed as having medium sectoral vulnerabilities, while banks were rated medium-to-low. However, the IMF said the authorities’ understanding of how criminal proceeds moved through the financial system remained insufficiently detailed to support targeted mitigation measures. Read more at:
