IMF urges Philippines to speed up efforts to exit FATF Gray list
The International Monetary Fund has called for increased vigilance and action from the Philippines to address concerns.
The Philippines.- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging the Philippines to accelerate its work to be removed from the FATF grey list. It has issued a directive pressing for increased vigilance and action to address concerns regarding its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
Shanaka Jayanath Peiris, the mission chief of the IMF’s 2023 Article IV consultation team, said the country must establish a credible timeline to tackle outstanding AML/CFT issues. The Philippines was put on the FATF grey list in June 2021 following an evaluation report by the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), which highlighted 18 deficiencies in the country’s AML/CFT controls. While progress has been made over the subsequent two years, eight concerns remain unaddressed.
Among the challenges that the Philippines must confront are enhancing AML/CFT controls related to casino junkets, intensifying efforts in money laundering and terrorist financing investigations and prosecutions, and demonstrating effective risk-based supervision of designated non-financial business and professions (DNFBPs).
The country needs to streamline law enforcement agencies’ access to beneficial ownership information and ensure its accuracy and currency.
The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has highlighted the “inherent vulnerability” of the junket system in the casino sector to money laundering and terrorism financing risks. It found that players’ use of physical cash and some junket operators’ non-reporting of suspicious transactions contributed to the vulnerability of high-risk integrated resorts
In July, during a keynote speech at the SiGMA Asia, PAGCOR chairman and CEO, Alejandro H. Tengco, also stressed the importance of the Philippines being removed from the FATF arguing it not only impacts the gaming industry but also adversely affects the nation’s trade, commerce, and global financial standing.
