On 7 March 2024, the Anti-Money Laundering Council ("AMLC") proposed two regulatory actions for the implementing rules and regulations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act ("AMLA") and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012. These are intended to address the remaining strategic deficiencies noted in the Mutual Evaluation Reports ("MER") pertaining to the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism framework, and thereby remove the Philippines from the "Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring", commonly known as the grey list of global money laundering for 2024. The Philippines has been included in the Financial Action Task Force’s ("FATF") grey list due to these deficiencies noted in the MER.
To comply with the latest FATF standards, address the operational concerns of AMLC, and further clarify the provisions of the AMLA to assist covered persons and government agencies in effectively implementing the law, AMLC will implement changes including:
- adopting an effective risk-based supervision of Non-Financial Businesses and professionals (NFBPs);
- mitigating risk associated with casino junkets;
- enhancing and streamlining access to beneficial ownership information;
- demonstrating an increase in the money laundering and terrorism financing investigations and prosecutions; and
- ensuring cross-border measures in all entry points across the country, including seaports and airports.
