A circular jointly issued on Tuesday by the State Administration for Foreign Exchange and the Ministry of Public Security urged foreign exchange administrative departments and public security forces at all levels to cooperate closely in cracking down on illegal trading in foreign exchange, rectifying and standardizing the market economic order.

Emphasis in the near term will be placed on shutting down black market trading places, and destroying illegal trading dens and under-ground banking houses.

In particular, banks designated to trade in foreign exchange are required to check their business outlets and foreign exchange centers, and the banks' efforts will undergo strict supervision. Banks and their staff found to be engaged in illegal trading of foreign exchange will be punished severely, Xinhua said.

Illegal trading in foreign exchange has been somewhat curtailed in recent years as the country stepped up efforts to fight smuggling and fraud in export tax rebates while relaxing control over foreign exchange individuals need for personal purposes.

But black market dens and underground banking houses engaged in illegal foreign exchange trading still exist and provide people with foreign exchange capital for such criminal activities as smuggling, fraud in export rebates and money laundering, Xinhua said.

The circular reiterated that criminal punishments will be given to those people who deal in foreign exchange outside designated foreign exchange banks or the government foreign ex-change trading center and its branches, with the volume of conversion exceeding US$200,000 or the illegal gains exceeding 50,000 yuan.

(Shanghai Daily 09/06/2001)