Stop CCP Money Laundering Act of 2025
The Stop Corrupt Communist Party Money Laundering Act of 2025 is a Senate bill that aims to pressure Hong Kong to tighten anti-money-laundering controls and to curb sanctions- and export-control-violating activity. It requires two key actions: (1) within 180 days, the Treasury Secretary must determine whether Hong Kong should be designated as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under U.S. law, with a detailed justification. This designation would subject Hong Kong to enhanced U.S. enforcement actions and monitoring options. (2) within 360 days, the State Department (in coordination with the Treasury and Commerce) must submit a comprehensive report assessing how well financial institutions in Hong Kong can detect and prevent transactions that move products, technology, or money to Russia, Iran, and other sanctioned or prohibited destinations or actors. The report also evaluates Hong Kong’s role as an international financial/trading hub, whether Chinese or Hong Kong security laws impede anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer efforts, and how Hong Kong cooperates with U.S. authorities on export controls and sanctions enforcement. In short, the bill seeks to (a) potentially designate Hong Kong as a high-risk money-laundering jurisdiction, and (b) publicly assess and document Hong Kong’s effectiveness and cooperation in preventing sanction-busting activities and in enforcing export controls.
Key Points
- 1Requires Treasury to determine, within 180 days, whether Hong Kong should be designated as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under 31 U.S.C. 5318A, with a detailed justification. (This is the legal basis used by the U.S. to flag and monitor countries or jurisdictions with significant money-laundering risk.)
- 2Requires a broader report within 360 days from enactment, produced by the State Department in coordination with the Treasury and Commerce, assessing the capacity of U.S. and foreign financial institutions in Hong Kong to identify and prevent transactions that move products, technology, and money to Russia, Iran, and other sanctioned entities or countries.
- 3The report must evaluate Hong Kong’s role as an international financial and trading center in facilitating transfers that violate export controls and sanctions, including both known (knowingly) and potential (knowingly or unknowingly) transfers.
- 4The report must assess whether China’s 2020 National Security Law and Hong Kong’s 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance affect financial institutions’ ability to comply with global anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer standards.
- 5The report must describe cooperation between Hong Kong and U.S. authorities in enforcing export controls and sanctions, including identifying any challenges to such cooperation.