Senate to start debates on AMLA revisions

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate is set to start plenary debates on the proposed amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to include casinos among institutions covered and make the law compliant with standards set by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said he would sponsor the committee report on the proposed amendments on Monday.

Escudero said that the amendments to the AMLA should be approved before June or by the time FATF would hold its plenary session in Spain.

Under the proposed amendments, casinos will be included in the list of covered institutions, which the FATF has required for some time.

Also included in the list of covered institutions are dealers in precious metals, high-value goods, real estate brokers, lawyers and accountants acting on behalf of clients whenever they receive cash exceeding P500,000.

Escudero pointed out the P500,000 or $10,000 threshold would apply to all cash transactions of the covered institutions and entities.

Casinos have long been perceived to be a medium for money laundering because of its non-coverage in the AML reportorial requirements.

Several casinos in the Philippines were used to launder close to $1 billion stolen from the Bank of Bangladesh early this year by still unidentified hackers.

The Senate included casinos in its list of covered institutions when Republic Act 10365, which amended certain provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (RA 9160), was still in Congress in 2013 but the House of Representatives removed this in the final version of the law.

Escudero also noted there were higher threshold amounts included in the various bills filed in the past but he decided to use P500,000 since this was the internationally accepted standard.

With regard to the inclusion of dealers of high-value goods, Escudero explained this was meant to cover a wide a range of goods and commodities such as jewelry, watches, vehicles as long as they were purchased for at least P500,000 in cash.

RA 10365 amended RA 9160 in partial compliance with the requirements of the FATF. The amendments were introduced, thus saving the Philippines from what could have been its inclusion in the so-called black list of uncooperative countries.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures, and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally. 

In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.