Tighter laws on money laundering have seen a 40 per cent surge in reports to police of suspicious transactions last year compared with 2012.

Tighter laws on money laundering have seen a 40 per cent surge in reports to police of suspicious transactions last year compared with 2012, the South China Morning Post reported, citing official data.

It said Hong Kong police received 33,000 reports of suspicious financial transactions, which is the highest level in 12 years. New laws took effect in the middle of 2012.

The Financial Investigations Division of the Narcotics Bureau initiated 349 investigations in 2013, up 41.9 per cent from the 246 in 2012, the newspaper said.

The total value of assets frozen by Hong Kong police in money-laundering investigations rose 13.7 per cent to HK$873 million ($112.6 million) in 2013, from HK$768 million in 2012, according to Hong Kong police data. In 2011, police froze HK$731 million worth of assets, the report said. The cases included requests from overseas law enforcement agencies as well as cases opened by local police.

The Asia jurisdiction implemented the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance, better known as AMLO, on 1 April, 2012. AMLO, the report said, is the first Hong Kong legislation to impose customer due diligence requirements on banks and financial institutions.