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Sanctions:
None applicable
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists:
Information unavailable.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2011:
Tonga is an archipelago located in the South Pacific, about two-
thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. Tonga is neither a
financial center nor an offshore jurisdiction. It has only three
commercial banks. Remittances from Tongans living and working
abroad are the largest source of hard currency earnings, followed
by tourism. Tonga is deemed by local police authorities to be
vulnerable to smuggling and money laundering due to inadequate
border controls.
DO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENGAGE IN CURRENCY
TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKING THAT INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF US
CURRENCY; CURRENCY DERIVED FROM ILLEGAL SALES IN
THE U.S.; OR THAT OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
U.S.: NO
CRIMINALIZATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: All serious crimes
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
CRIMINALIZATION OF TERRORIST FINANCING:
Ability to freeze terrorist assets without delay: YES
UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities distributed to
financial institutions: YES
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER RULES:
Covered entities: Banks
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: NO
Domestic: NO
SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:
Covered entities: Banks
Number of STRs received and time frame: 17 in 2009
Number of CTRs received and time frame: Not available
MONEY LAUNDERING CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS/CONVICTIONS:
Prosecutions: 0 in 2010
Convictions: None
Assets forfeited: criminally: Not available civilly: Not available
RECORDS EXCHANGE MECHANISM:
With U.S.: NO
With other governments/jurisdictions: NO
Tonga is a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money
Laundering (APG), a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style
regional body. Its most recent mutual evaluation can be found
here: http://www.apgml.org/documents/default.aspx?
DocumentCategoryID=17
ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES AND
COMMENTS:
The Tongan Transaction Reporting Authority (TRA) is generally
vested with the powers of a financial intelligence unit (FIU)
although there are some serious limitations in its powers. The
TRA’s functions under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of
Crime Act do not explicitly include analysis of suspicious
transaction reports (STRs); and lack of timely access to financial,
administrative and law enforcement information severely limits the
TRA’s ability to effectively analyze STRs.
Tongan authorities feel a primary reason why there is a lack of
investigations into money laundering is that there are insufficient
resources and expertise in most of the relevant agencies. Money
laundering activities may be occurring outside of the formal
banking system by way of alternative remittance systems.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2011 (introduction):
No report available
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
(Tier 2)
Tonga is a source and destination country for women and
children subjected to sex trafficking within the country and a
source country for women subjected to forced labor abroad.
Foreign women and local children are prostituted in bars and
entertainment establishments; some East Asian women are
recruited from their home countries for legitimate work in Tonga,
paying large sums of money in recruitment fees, and upon arrival
are forced into prostitution. Crew members on foreign fishing
vessels in Tonga or in its territorial waters exploit prostituted
children on board their vessels. There were suspected cases of
Tongan nationals who were recruited for domestic work abroad,
but subsequently had their passports confiscated and were forced
to work with no pay.
The Government of Tonga does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. During the year, the government
investigated and prosecuted its first case of trafficking involving
two Chinese victims of forced prostitution, and provided these
victims with some limited services. Nevertheless, the government
did not take steps to proactively identify other victims of trafficking
or educate the public about human trafficking.
Click here to view full report
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Terrorism Report 2009
No report available
____________________________________________________
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
None applicable
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists:
Information unavailable.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2011:
Tonga is an archipelago located in the South Pacific, about two-
thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. Tonga is neither a
financial center nor an offshore jurisdiction. It has only three
commercial banks. Remittances from Tongans living and working
abroad are the largest source of hard currency earnings, followed
by tourism. Tonga is deemed by local police authorities to be
vulnerable to smuggling and money laundering due to inadequate
border controls.
DO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENGAGE IN CURRENCY
TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKING THAT INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF US
CURRENCY; CURRENCY DERIVED FROM ILLEGAL SALES IN
THE U.S.; OR THAT OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
U.S.: NO
CRIMINALIZATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: All serious crimes
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
CRIMINALIZATION OF TERRORIST FINANCING:
Ability to freeze terrorist assets without delay: YES
UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities distributed to
financial institutions: YES
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER RULES:
Covered entities: Banks
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: NO
Domestic: NO
SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:
Covered entities: Banks
Number of STRs received and time frame: 17 in 2009
Number of CTRs received and time frame: Not available
MONEY LAUNDERING CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS/CONVICTIONS:
Prosecutions: 0 in 2010
Convictions: None
Assets forfeited: criminally: Not available civilly: Not available
RECORDS EXCHANGE MECHANISM:
With U.S.: NO
With other governments/jurisdictions: NO
Tonga is a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money
Laundering (APG), a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style
regional body. Its most recent mutual evaluation can be found
here: http://www.apgml.org/documents/default.aspx?
DocumentCategoryID=17
ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES AND
COMMENTS:
The Tongan Transaction Reporting Authority (TRA) is generally
vested with the powers of a financial intelligence unit (FIU)
although there are some serious limitations in its powers. The
TRA’s functions under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of
Crime Act do not explicitly include analysis of suspicious
transaction reports (STRs); and lack of timely access to financial,
administrative and law enforcement information severely limits the
TRA’s ability to effectively analyze STRs.
Tongan authorities feel a primary reason why there is a lack of
investigations into money laundering is that there are insufficient
resources and expertise in most of the relevant agencies. Money
laundering activities may be occurring outside of the formal
banking system by way of alternative remittance systems.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2011 (introduction):
No report available
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
(Tier 2)
Tonga is a source and destination country for women and
children subjected to sex trafficking within the country and a
source country for women subjected to forced labor abroad.
Foreign women and local children are prostituted in bars and
entertainment establishments; some East Asian women are
recruited from their home countries for legitimate work in Tonga,
paying large sums of money in recruitment fees, and upon arrival
are forced into prostitution. Crew members on foreign fishing
vessels in Tonga or in its territorial waters exploit prostituted
children on board their vessels. There were suspected cases of
Tongan nationals who were recruited for domestic work abroad,
but subsequently had their passports confiscated and were forced
to work with no pay.
The Government of Tonga does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. During the year, the government
investigated and prosecuted its first case of trafficking involving
two Chinese victims of forced prostitution, and provided these
victims with some limited services. Nevertheless, the government
did not take steps to proactively identify other victims of trafficking
or educate the public about human trafficking.
Click here to view full report
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Terrorism Report 2009
No report available
____________________________________________________
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
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*Please note that FATF deems that a country has significant aml deficiencies if
any of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated
either Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
any of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated
either Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
| Further Tables |
| TONGA |
| KnowYourCountry |
|
|
| Last Updated: 16 April 2012 |