Mr. Buon Sarakmony, State Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, said that over the past six months, the Ministry has identified 34 shareholders whose names appear on the United States grey list and U.S. tracking systems, of whom 7 have been determined to be involved in financial crimes. The findings were made through a campaign urging companies to file their annual returns, as he raised at a workshop on "Updates on the Modernization of Commercial Registration" held on October 8, 2026.
To prevent illegal activity, the Ministry of Commerce has ordered the relevant individuals to transfer their shares out of companies in Cambodia. If they fail to comply, the companies could face dissolution after tax debts have been settled. At the same time, the Ministry has purchased a shareholder-background screening system from the United States in order to carefully examine information before granting commercial registration, in line with the policy of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet on building a "clean economy" and not allowing Cambodia to become a haven for scam networks.
Mr. Buon Sarakmony stressed that filing annual returns is important for monitoring the status of companies and ensuring that businesses have real economic activity. To give traders an opportunity to update their information, the Ministry has continued to waive penalties for filing returns until early January 2027. The Ministry also expressed concern about companies that are registered in large numbers but have no real economic activity, or that may use their registration to obtain illegal benefits. By: Sopheak
