The ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING DIVISION, INVESTIGATION BUREAU,
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF TAIWAN and the TRANSACTION REPORTING
AUTHORITY OF THE KINGDOM OF TONGA, hereinafter referred to as
"the Authorities", desire, in a spirit of cooperation and mutual
interest, to facilitate the analysis concerning cases of
suspected money laundering, associated predicate offences,
financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, with a view to disseminating information which may
ultimately result in investigations and prosecutions by
competent authorities in their respective Countries.

To that end, having regard to the relevant documents of the
Egmont Group and, particularly, the “ Charter ” and the “
Principles for Information Exchange between Financial
Intelligence Units ”, the Authorities have reached the
following understanding:

1. The Authorities will cooperate to assemble, develop and
analyse information relevant to suspected money laundering,
associated predicate offences and terrorism financing.
2. The Authorities will freely exchange spontaneously or upon
request the widest range of information available or
obtainable, based on reciprocity.
3. The Authorities will conduct queries on behalf of the
requesting counterpart and provide all information that they
would be able to obtain if such queries were carried out
domestically. In particular, the Authorities will provide:
a. all information required to be accessible or obtainable
directly or indirectly; this includes in particular the
information that the Authorities have the power to obtain
for their domestic analysis; and
b. any other information which the Authorities have the power
to obtain or access, directly or indirectly, at the
domestic level.
4. In particular, the Authorities will provide the following
types of information, based on their respective sources and
powers:
a. Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) / Suspicious Activity
Reports (SARs);
b. Threshold-Based Disclosures; and
c. Others.
5. If an Authority is subject to legal process or proceedings
that would require the disclosure of information it has
received from the other Authority, the Authority subject to
such process or proceedings will immediately notify and seek
the express consent of the other Authority to disclose the
information, and if consent has not been provided, reasonable
efforts will be taken to ensure that the information will not
be disseminated to any third party or that appropriate
limitations are placed upon the disclosure.
6. To enable a timely and efficient execution of the requests,
the Authorities will make their best efforts to provide, in
the requests, relevant factual and legal information,
including the description of the case being analysed and the
potential link with the country of the requested Authority.
They will also indicate any need for urgency.
7. The Authorities will indicate the reasons for the requests,
the parties on behalf of whom those are sent and, to the
extent possible, the purpose for which the information will
be used.
8. The Authorities will not refuse to provide assistance on the
grounds that:
a. the request is also considered to involve fiscal matters;
b. laws require financial institutions or designated
non-financial businesses and professions (except where the
relevant information that is sought is held under
circumstances where legal privilege or legal professional
secrecy applies) to maintain secrecy or confidentiality;
c. there is an inquiry, investigation or proceeding underway
in the Country of the requested Authority, unless the
assistance would impede that inquiry, investigation or
proceeding;
d. the nature or status (civil, administrative, law
enforcement etc.) of the requesting Authority is different
to the requested Authority;
e. the case to which the request refers to is not considered
relevant or suspicious or the specific type of the
predicate offence is not known in the analytical phase.
9. The Authorities will acknowledge receipt of the requests and
will respond to such requests in a timely manner. The
Authorities will further use their best efforts to provide
interim or partial responses in a timely manner in such cases
where there may be a delay in providing a full response.
10. The Authorities will use the information exchanged only for
the purpose for which it was sought or provided. Any
dissemination of the information to other authorities or any
use of this information beyond those originally approved
will be subject to prior authorization by the requested
Authority.
11. The prior consent for further use or dissemination will be
granted by the Authorities promptly and to the largest
extent possible. Such consent will not be refused unless
this would fall beyond the scope of application of the
providing Authority ’ s AML/CFT provisions, could impair a
criminal investigation, would be clearly disproportionate to
the legitimate interests of a natural or legal person or the
State of the providing Authority or would otherwise not be
in accordance with fundamental principles of its national
law.
12. Any refusal to provide the prior consent will be
appropriately motivated and explained and the Authorities
will explore alternative ways (e.g. through mutual legal
assistance channels) to ensure that the information
exchanged can be used by competent law enforcement agencies
and prosecutors.
13. Upon request and whenever possible, the Authorities will
provide feedback to the other Authority on the use of the
information provided, as well as on the outcome of the
analysis conducted, based on the information provided.
14. The information acquired in application of this Memorandum
of Understanding (hereinafter referred to as “ MOU ” )is
confidential. It is subject to official secrecy and is
protected by at least the same confidentiality as provided
by the national legislation of the receiving Authority for
similar information from national sources.
15. Exchanges of information will take place in a secure way and
through reliable channels or mechanisms. To this end, the
Authorities may use the Egmont Secure Web or other
recognized networks that ensure levels of security,
reliability and effectiveness at least equivalent to those
of the Egmont Secure Web.
16. The Authorities will jointly arrange, consistent with the
legislation of their respective countries, for acceptable
procedures of communication and will consult each other with
the purpose of implementing this MOU.
17. In interpreting and implementing this MOU, the Authorities
will ensure consistency with the provisions of the Egmont
Group, particularly with the “ Charter ” and the “
Principles for Information Exchange between Financial
Intelligence Units ”. The Authorities will abide directly
by these provisions for any further issue which is not
covered in this MOU.
18. Communication between the Authorities shall take place in
English.
19. This MOU will enter into force upon the date of last
signature by the Authorities.
20. This MOU may be amended at any time by mutual consent in
writing.
21. This MOU may be terminated at any time. The termination will
enter into force as from the receipt of the written
notification from the other Authority.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized by
their respective Authorities, have signed this MOU.

Done in duplicate in the English language, and each Authority
takes the responsibility for establishing translation in their
own language.


FOR THE FOR THE
ANTI-MONEY TRANSACTION
LAUNDERING REPORTING
DIVISION AUTHORITY OF THE
INVESTIGATION KINGDOM OF
BUREAU, TONGA
MINISTRY OF
JUSTICE OF TAIWAN
__________________ __________________
Hung-Chin Lee Sione Ngongo Kioa
Director Governor

Date: Date:
08/20/2019 Mid-August 2019

Place: Place:
Canberra, Austrralia Kingdom of Tonga