The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering is an inter-governmental organisation, consisting of 41 member jurisdictions. The objective of the APG is to ensure that individual members effectively implement the international standards against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing related to weapons of mass destruction.
In 1995 an Asia-Pacific regional office called the "FATF-Asia Secretariat" was established and funded by government of Australia. In cooperation with other international bodies, that secretariat worked with countries in the Asia-Pacific to generate wide regional commitment to implement anti-money laundering policies and initiatives and secure agreement to establish a more permanent regional anti-money laundering body. Symposia were then held in Hong Kong, China in October 1995; in November 1996; and in Tokyo, Japan in December 1995. At the Fourth (and last) symposium in Bangkok, Thailand in February 1997, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) was officially established as an autonomous regional anti-money laundering body by unanimous agreement among 13 original founding members. A new secretariat was also established to serve as the focal point for APG activities to be located in Sydney, Australia.
The APG has grown considerably since 1997 and is part of a global network of similar bodies, referred to as Financial Action Task Force-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs) and is the largest in terms of membership numbers and geographical size. The APG also has a large number of observers (both jurisdictions and supporting organisations) that participate in its programmes and activities. Some of the key international organisations that support the APG include the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, OECD, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the UN's Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate, Asian Development Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, INTERPOL and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.
The international standards against money laundering and the financing of terrorism/proliferation are contained in the Forty Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Link: http://www.apgml.org/