The International Monetary Fund has called for increased vigilance and action from the Philippines to address concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.-\u00a0The International Monetary Fund (IMF)\u00a0is 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a018 deficiencies in the country’s AML\/CFT controls. While progress has been made over the subsequent two years, eight concerns remain unaddressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the challenges that the Philippines must confront are\u00a0enhancing 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country needs to streamline law enforcement agencies’ access to beneficial ownership information and ensure its accuracy and currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Philippines\u2019 Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)\u00a0has highlighted\u00a0the \u201cinherent vulnerability\u201d of the junket system<\/a>\u00a0in the casino sector to money laundering and terrorism financing risks. It found that players\u2019 use of physical cash and some junket operators\u2019 non-reporting of suspicious transactions contributed to the vulnerability of high-risk integrated resorts<\/p>\n\n\n\n