A record 6,800 suspected cases of money-laundering have been reported to police in the first eight months of this year - more than in the whole of last year.
Revealing the figure this week, acting Police Commissioner Lau Yuk-kuen told the South China Morning Post that it reflected heightened vigilance by financial institutions, especially in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks on the US.
Mr Lau said while such reports had in the past led to the confiscation of money from organised crime syndicates, none had so far been confirmed as involving terrorist organisations.
A report last week in the Washington Post said a draft United Nations document had identified Hong Kong as one of five financial centres where al-Qaeda held bank accounts.
The number of suspicious transactions reported to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit in the first eight months of this year is more than the 6,700 cases received in the whole of last year.
It is also the highest figure recorded since the unit's formation in 1989 - by police and the Customs and Excise Department - to receive reports from banks and other financial institutions about suspicious financial activity in relation to drug-trafficking and other organised crime. Only 34 reports were received in 1989.
