(Eagle News)–President Bongbong Marcos has directed the Anti-Money Laundering Council and all concerned agencies to address the strategic deficiencies that would lead to the removal of the Philippines from the global money laundering “gray list” in 2024.
This is according to AMLC Executive Director Matthew David, who held a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
David said it was important to expedite the removal of the country from the list, of which the Philippines was made a part of by global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force in June 2021.
“There are precautions for being on the gray list, because the longer we are on the gray list, the bigger the possibility or the higher the risk that we will enter the black list. Of course, we don’t want to be in the blacklisted jurisdiction,” he said.
He said if blacklisted, “there are repercussions,” one of which could be countermeasures imposed by FATF on the Philippines and international financial transactions of Filipinos abroad.
David said if imposed, these may translate to an increase in the cost of remittance services and more stringent requirements.
He said there may also be a higher risk of denial of transactions.
David said of the 18 action plan items the country needs to resolve its gray list status, eight need to be completed.
These include the effective risk-based supervision of Non-Financial Businesses and professionals (NFBPs); mitigating risks 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.
He said the President also ordered those concerned to continuously sustain good coordination between law enforcement and other government agencies.
“The Philippines is aiming to address all these deficiencies within 2024 and to trigger the exit process from this FATF gray listing,” he said.
