KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia today halved the minimum amount of cash and other physical transactions that must be reported by banks to RM25,000, seen as part of efforts to tighten the noose on criminal activities and money laundering.

The initiative, which will kick in next January, marks a drop from the RM50,000 currently allowed in transactions including withdrawals and deposits.

In her keynote address at the 10th International Conference on Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing, BNM governor Nor Shamsiah Yunus said cash was still the preferred medium of exchange for criminals.

She added that Malaysia’s Cash Threshold Report, a standard precaution against money laundering, crime and terrorism, was presently too high.

“Our current threshold in comparison to other countries is too high and disconnected from the size of the economy, especially relative to our purchasing power,” she said.

She assured however that BNM did not anticipate any impact to the economy from the lower CTR.