SEC pushes for inclusion of casinos in AMLA

MANILA, Philippines – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will again push for the inclusion of casinos in the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to prevent the country from being blacklisted anew by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“The Anti-Money Laundering Council has been pushing for the inclusion of casinos. We have international commitments worldwide. If we are not able to do that, the international anti-money laundering group, the FATF might again put us in the grey list.

Three years ago we were in the grey list. Unfortunately, casinos were excluded at the last minute and now FATF is asking us again about the status,” SEC chairperson Teresita Herbosa said Tuesday night amid reports that some casinos in the Philippines are allegedly being used for money laundering activities.

 The AMLC implements the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Law. It is headed by the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilpinas and is composed of the SEC chairperson and the commissioner of the Insurance Commission.

Countries in FATF’s grey list are those with inadequate anti-money laundering laws.

Sought for comment, Cristino Naguiat, chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. said the state-owned gaming regulator is not opposed to this move.

“We’re not against this. We’ve long been talking with the AMLC on this,” Naguiat said over the phone.

But even with the exclusion of casinos from the Anti-Money Laundering Law’s coverage, Naguiat said Pagcor has put in place necessary safeguards to prevent money laundering in these gaming entities.

Like in banks, he said, casino operators in the Philippines implement know-your-customer (KYC) rules such as requiring passports and proper identification from players.

 Nevertheless, Pagcor has already started its own investigation into reports that as much as $100 million worth of funds with suspicious origins were remitted to bank accounts of three casino firms namely Solaire, City of Dreams Manila and Midas Hotel and Casino.

 The probe follows similar undertakings from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the AMLC to track down money allegedly coming from Bangladesh that entered Philippine shores through  a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. in Makati City.

While pursuing its own probe, Pagcor said AMLC would be in a better position to get to the bottom of the issue and come up with more safeguards for the financial system.

In a separate statement, Pagcor said it has consistently reminded casinos to implement stricter control policies on funds movements and issuances of playing chips.

Naguiat also said that if these high rollers remit cash to the accounts of casino operators, they get non-negotiable gaming chips in exchange and not the cash that they sent.

“These are non-negotiable chips. They use these to play. They only get cash if they win,” he noted.

He likewise pointed out that records of financial transactions are available for scrutiny by Pagcor on demand.

“The internal control systems and procedures generally follow casino industry standards practiced in many gaming jurisdictions throughout the world,” Pagcor said.

All bank remittances into casino bank accounts regardless of amount are subjected to scrutiny as to the identity of the remitting party and the purpose of the remittance. – With Prinz Magtulis