Central bank head touts travel rule

Move would aid management of baht

- SOMRUEDI BANCHONGDUANG NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG

The Bank of Thailand chief has called for adoption of the travel rule to monitor money flows as a tool to help manage the baht.

According to central bank governor Vitai Ratanakorn, some countries use the rule to monitor cross-border money flows and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, requiring financial institutions to share information about the sender and receiver during virtual asset transactions.

The rule, established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organisation that sets global standards to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, applies to a wide range of institutions including banks, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), money service businesses and even some non-financial businesses.

Established in 1989 by the G7 summit in Paris, FATF developed 40 recommendations to guide countries on legal, regulatory and operational measures to protect the financial system.

Under the travel rule, institutions must transmit details such as the sender's name, account number, address and identification, along with similar recipient data, during fund transfers or virtual asset transactions. This creates an auditable trail to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, applying to banks, money service businesses and VASPs.

In Thailand, this task is the responsibility of the Anti-Money Laundering Office, while the Bank of Thailand is involved in certain areas, particularly through its supervision of financial institutions, said Mr Vitai.

Speaking at the “Thailand Next Move 2026: Wealth Creation Forum” hosted by Money and Banking magazine yesterday, he said the travel rule would enable regulatory agencies to monitor money flows more efficiently and could serve as another tool to support the regulator's management of baht movements in an appropriate manner.