{"id":777020207,"date":"2024-10-28T10:07:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T13:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777020207"},"modified":"2026-04-22T04:45:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T07:45:28","slug":"philippines-completes-action-plan-and-aims-to-leave-fatf-grey-list-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-completes-action-plan-and-aims-to-leave-fatf-grey-list-next-year","title":{"rendered":"Philippines completes action plan and aims to leave FATF grey list next year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Philippines has addressed 18 deficiencies in AML\/CFT controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)<\/strong> has announced that the Philippines has addressed all <\/strong>18 deficiencies<\/a> identified in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML\/CFT) controls and could potentially leave its grey list of countries in 2025.\u00a0In a statement on Friday (October 25), the FATF said the Philippines had addressed the eight remaining items in its action plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate announcement, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) <\/strong>said the FATF’s Asia\/Pacific Joint Group (APJG) will visit the Philippines early next year. \u201cThis is the final step toward the removal of the country from the grey list,\u201d it said. The country was put on the FATF grey list in June 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philippines executive secretary Lucas Bersamin <\/strong>said: \u201cThis milestone is a testament to the hard work and coordination across government agencies. It reflects our strong commitment to meeting the FATF\u2019s stringent standards and ensuring the long-term protection of our financial system. We are confident that this progress will be affirmed during the on-site visit,\u201d noted Bersamin, who also serves as chairperson of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Financing\/Counter-Proliferation Financing Coordinating Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The points remaining were: (1) demonstrating that risk-based supervision of DNFBPs is occurring; (2) demonstrating that supervisors are using AML\/CFT controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets; (3) implementing the new registration requirements for MVTS and applying sanctions to unregistered and illegal remittance operators; (4) enhancing and streamlining LEA access to BO information and taking steps to ensure that BO information is accurate and up-to-date; (5) demonstrating an increase in the use of financial intelligence and an increase in ML investigations and prosecutions in line with risk; (6) demonstrating an increase in the identification, investigation and prosecution of TF cases; (7) demonstrating that appropriate measures are taken with respect to the NPO sector (including unregistered NPOs) without disrupting legitimate NPO activity; and (8) enhancing the effectiveness of the targeted financial sanctions framework for both TF and PF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philippines Quadcom to summon banks over offshore gaming operators funds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the Philippines\u2019 House Quad Committee (Quadcom) announced plans to request the presence of several banks, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), and the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) at an upcoming hearing. The purpose is to investigate the movement of funds associated with people or companies under scrutiny for links to offshore gaming operators<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to PhilStar, Manila chairman Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido \u201cBenny\u201d Abante<\/strong> mentioned the move at a meeting with members of the Monday Circle at the Westin Hotel. Abante said he was informed that banks were aware of the intention to require their participation. They are reportedly seeking support from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) to oppose the summons under the protection of bank secrecy laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abante said the AMLC and banks should clarify their role in dealing with suspicious movements by people under investigation. He noted instances where those being investigated were able to quickly move funds after Congress conducted an inquiry. Analysts have also suggested that unusual activity in the stock market could signal that it\u2019s being used to channel departing offshore gaming operators\u2019 funds ahead of the shut down of operators.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abante said there are now only 43 legal offshore gaming operators despite estimates indicating that nearly 400 operators are still working in various parts of the country, including hidden operations in provinces and small gated communities. He mentioned the case of Alabang, where residents have protested against rentals to Chinese people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Philippines has addressed 18 deficiencies in AML\/CFT controls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":19567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Philippines has addressed all 18 identified AML\/CFT deficiencies, positioning it for potential removal from the FATF grey list in 2025 following an on-site visit. Concurrently, the House Quad Committee is investigating suspicious fund movements linked to offshore gaming operators, summoning banks and the AMLC amidst challenges to bank secrecy laws.","focusai_entities":"Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Asia\/Pacific Joint Group (APJG), Lucas Bersamin, National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Financing\/Counter-Proliferation Financing Coordinating Committee, Philippines\u2019 House Quad Committee (Quadcom), Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), PhilStar, Bienvenido \u201cBenny\u201d Abante, Monday Circle, Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP)","focusai_location":"Philippines, Manila, Alabang","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"FATF Grey List Impact","query":"What specific economic and financial benefits are anticipated for the Philippines' capital markets and foreign direct investment flows upon formal removal from the FATF grey list?"},{"label":"POGO Regulatory Enforcement","query":"How will the ongoing investigation into offshore gaming operators' fund movements and the challenge to bank secrecy laws reshape the regulatory landscape for iGaming licensing and financial oversight in the Philippines?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,158,16333],"tags":[24038],"class_list":["post-777020207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-fatf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777020207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777020207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777020207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777020237,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777020207\/revisions\/777020237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777020207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777020207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777020207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}