New AMLC exec director named

MANILA, Philippines - Newly appointed Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat executive director Mel Georgie Racela vowed to transform the inter-agency body into a world-class financial intelligence unit that takes an active role in enhancing financial system integrity.

Racela’s appointment has been confirmed by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last Thursday.

Racela, who was appointed as officer-in-charge of AMLCS last February, has aligned the body’s investigations with the national campaign against drug trafficking, counter-financing of terrorism, and graft and corruption.

He has vowed to align policies and rules with international standards and to firmly enforce the law and the rules while nurturing a culture of compliance among covered persons.

The new AMLC executive director committed to elevate the country’s international ratings, such as those made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Racela’s pressing task is to oversee the Philippines’ national risk assessment to determine effectiveness of the country’s anti-money laundering regime and the upcoming mutual evaluation of the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on money laundering.

The Philippines was taken out from the APG membership action during its annual plenary meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka last July after President Duterte signed Republic Act 10927 amending RA 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2009 to place casino operations under money laundering scrutiny.

The FATF removed the Philippines from the list of vulnerable jurisdictions or “grey list” in 2013 but enjoined it to “work with the APG as it continues to address the full range of AML/CFT issues identified in its Mutual Evaluation Report, in particular, regulating the casino sector in the Philippines for AML/CFT purposes and making it subject to AML/CFT requirements.

Since assuming as OIC, Racela has implemented vital administrative changes to maximize the AMLC’s investigative and legal capabilities.

Recently, the AMLC adopted rules on the imposition of administrative sanctions on covered persons, with casinos now deemed as a “covered person” under the Anti-Money Laundering Law, as amended.

Racela has 21 years of experience in the BSP having served as an examiner in the Supervision and Examination Sector, a lawyer in the Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services, an investigator of the AMLC Secretariat’s Compliance and Investigation Group, and as head of the Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Group.

Before joining the AMLCS, he was deputy director for the Special Projects and Reports Group of the Office of Supervisory Policy Development. He obtained his undergraduate degree from De La Salle University and law degree from San Beda College. He also holds a Masters of Law in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC.