Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s 2nd Standing Committee, said yesterday that only financial institutions are allowed to retain currency that is “clearly or reasonably” believed to be counterfeit, hand it over to the Judiciary Police (PJ) and record the identity of the bogus banknote holder.
Chan made the remarks during a press briefing after yesterday’s closed-door meeting in the Legislative Assembly (AL) building reviewing a government-initiated bill regulating Macau’s money issuance, with the attendance of Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong and other government officials.
Chan stressed that, according to the government-initiated bill, individuals, including ordinary small business operators, are not obliged to retain or report suspected counterfeit banknotes, as only financial institutions such as banks and currency exchange counters, which specialise in identifying counterfeit banknotes, have the obligation to do so.
Chan said that the ordinary small businesses operators have the right to refuse banknotes that they suspect are counterfeits. He added that the exact procedure is still to be discussed as to what a small business operator who inadvertently accepts a fake banknote should do.
The bill proposes, Chan said, that defaced or damaged currency are to be replaced by the issuer at face value after it has been identified as genuine. Some committee members asked the government officials during yesterday’s meeting what the criteria are for defaced or damaged currency to be replaced, Chan pointed out.
Chan, a restaurateur by profession, quoted the officials as saying that the government took Hong Kong as reference, according to which banknote must be “clearly” defaced by 75 percent before it can be replaced.
Chan said his committee has “basically” finished the bill’s article-by-article review, adding that the committee will continue to hold meetings to discuss the technical issues. He also said that the committee was waiting for the government to hand in the latest version of the bill, so that the committee members could sign the review report before passing it to a plenary session of the legislature for the bill’s final debate and article-by-article vote.
The current decree law regulating Macau’s money issuance, which was promulgated in 1995, has been in force for over 27 years.
Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo (right), who chairs the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee, talks to reporters after the committee’s closed-door meeting in the Legislative Assembly yesterday reviewing a government-initiated bill regulating Macau’s pataca issuance, as the committee’s secretary, Lam Lon Wai, looks on. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
