Philippines SEC to share data with PAGCOR to combat money laundering

The Philippines’ SEC has signed a data-sharing agreement with several governmental agencies, including the gaming regulator.

The Philippines.- The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has signed a data-sharing agreement with several government agencies, including the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), as part of efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The agreement with the gaming regulator covers the sharing of information on beneficial owners of companies and other regulated entities, in line with recommendations from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Similar arrangements have been made with the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The data-sharing agreement is intended to allow the agencies to use the information gathered by the SEC to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The Philippines remains on the FATF’s “grey list” of jurisdictions. The body has acknowledged progress on the country’s action plan but said that deadlines had expired and work remains.

In February, the FATF called for evidence that supervisors are using anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets. Meanwhile, The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council has published a report stating that AML controls in the casino sector needed to be strengthened. 

The report analysed over 7,400 suspicious transaction reports related to casino junkets and identified four notable types of activity that could be linked to either money laundering or terrorism financing: junkets’ non-reporting of transactions to casino operators, involvement in a criminal conspiracy, purchase of chips with small-denomination currency followed by modest gambling actions and conduct of financial transactions not commensurate with declared sources of funds. to money-laundering risks.