Collaborative Exchange of Information by Six Entities to Address Increasing Challenges in Corporate Accounting: Uncovering Excessive Account Openings Beyond a Hundred Thousand

Today, six state agencies including the Department of Business Development, the Office of the Anti-Money Laundering Commission (AMLO), the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Anti Online Scam Operation Center (AOC), and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) have announced measures to address the proliferation of illegal business entity accounts that have been emerging recently.

The issue of illegal business entity accounts arises from criminals hiring intermediaries to establish these entities, providing both directors and shareholders to register the business. This leads to the opening of bank accounts under company names that appear more trustworthy than usual, making it easier to deceive victims. There have been reported costs of operations ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 baht.

Currently, the approaches taken by various agencies include:
– The CIB conducting inspections on accounting firms suspected of involvement with illegal business entity accounts.
– The AOC finding a decrease in regular individual accounts and an increase in business entity accounts.
– The Department of Business Development intensifying the inspection of corporate data by receiving lists of individuals related to illegal accounts from AMLO. Once identified, the names of these entities are returned for further investigation. If individuals are found to be associated, they must open accounts in front of officials and their business entity’s registration address is verified.
– The TCSD acts as an intermediary to share information on business entities related to illegal accounts with banks.
– The Bank of Thailand is currently scrutinizing existing accounts and determining whether new entities seeking to open accounts are linked to illegal accounts.

Source: Bank of Thailand

TLDR: In response to the rise of illegal business entity accounts, six state agencies in Thailand have implemented various measures to combat this issue, including intensified inspections and information sharing to prevent further fraudulent activities.