AMLC seeks membership in Egmont Group

The Arroyo administration wants the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to become a member of the Egmont Group but this would not be possible while the Philippines is still in the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).

The AMLC was recently transformed into a full-blown financial intelligence unit (FIU), but would still have to become a member of the Egmont Group in order to gain access to the international network and database critical in the investigation and prosecution of money laundering and other financial frauds.

The Egmont Group is a loose association of FIUs from different countries that cooperate to exchange information for law enforcement purposes. Although the AMLC can still function outside the group, sources explained that membership would make its job easier, especially when pursuing accounts, entities and individuals outside the country’s jurisdiction.

According to a source, however, the Philippines could not be a member of the Egmont Group until it is removed from the FATF’s list of non-cooperative countries and territories (NCCTs).

"Because of the transnational nature of money-laundering and related crimes, the investigation of such activities normally go beyond individual jurisdictions and would require international cooperation," the source explained. "The Egmont Group would be very useful to us and we could be very useful to them."

The source said the AMLC also wants to pursue further legislative enhancements to the Anti-Money Laundering Law, such as the proposed enactment of the Mutual Legal Assistance Act, a law that would facilitate legal cooperation between the Philippines and other governments.

According to the source, the Philippines has already signed and ratified individual bilateral mutual legal assistance treaties with the US and Australia. Another treaty was signed with Hong Kong but this has not been ratified by the Senate.

The enactment of a Mutual Legal Assistance act, the source said, would make it omnibus, removing the necessity to sign individual treaties with different governments.

"This doesn’t necessarily have to involve amendments in the AMLA, it could be a separate legislation in support of the AMLA," the source explained.

The same source said, the AMLC is also in the process of finalizing the implementation plan for the AMLA, for eventual presentation to the FATF which is scheduled to hold its annual plenary meeting on June 16, 2003.

The submission of the implementation plan was the second of three requirements for the country to be removed from the FATF’s NCCT list.

The first requirement was the amendment of the AMLA which has already been done and the third, which would follow the submission of the implementation plan, would be the endorsement of the FATF monitoring group that would observe and evaluate the implementation of the plan.