Philippines president wants country removed from money laundering gray list
Philippine President Ferdinand “Bang Bang” Marcos Jr. has started the new year with a heightened focus on improving the Southeast Asian country’s anti-money laundering protections and defenses against the financing of terrorism.
Last fall, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed the Philippines on its "enhanced surveillance" list, commonly known as the FATF "grey list." Included countries are encouraged to “address strategic deficiencies in their systems to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of financial resources.”
In a meeting with the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Commission last week, Marcos directed the commission and all relevant government agencies, including the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), to prioritize addressing deficiencies in combating money laundering and Drawbacks in Terrorist Financing.
PAGCOR regulates commercial casinos in the Philippines. Government agencies also operate government-owned casinos.
The President reaffirmed the government’s high political commitment and directed all relevant government agencies to rigorously address the remaining strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF related to the Philippines’ gray list,” AMLC Executive Director Matthew David said.
Marcos set a goal for the FATF to remove the Philippines from the gray list by October 2024.
Game Impact
The Philippines has long been criticized for failing to adequately protect its financial institutions from unethical exploitation. Much of the controversy has centered on the country's casinos, which originally fell outside the purview of the country's 2001 Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).
Raul Palabrica, president of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, wrote this week: “Casinos were initially exempt from the AML law because of the purported move to include them in the AML Act will have a negative impact on their profitability, thereby reducing their contribution to various social causes."
Under pressure from the FATF, Philippine lawmakers amended the Anti-Money Laundering Act to apply the code to the country’s gambling industry. Since 2017, anti-money laundering laws have applied to land-based casinos and offshore online gambling sites operating in the Philippines.
PAGCOR is the primary agency responsible for ensuring casinos comply with AMLA. However, this is not an easy task as casinos often deal with whales who try to limit the disclosure of their identities for tax and security reasons.
The scale of the order only grew after China kicked out VIP tour groups from Macau over concerns that these high-roller tour operators were laundering money for mainland China's wealthiest residents. Many cruise ships operating in Macau have moved to more welcoming work environments, with the Philippines reportedly being a major destination.
Blacklist Threat
The longer the Philippines remains on the Financial Action Task Force's "enhanced surveillance" list, the greater the likelihood of being included on the task force's so-called "blacklist." The blacklist, officially called "high-risk jurisdictions," includes countries with "serious strategic deficiencies."
The FATF called on its members to "step up due diligence" when dealing with blacklisted countries and "take countermeasures to protect the international financial system".
Being added to the greylist comes with a precaution, as the longer we are on the greylist, the greater the likelihood or risk that we will be blacklisted. We certainly don’t want to be blacklisted. If we are blacklisted, there will be consequences and one of the consequences will be the impact of our overseas Filipino workers on our transactions,” David said.
David announced that all relevant government agencies have implemented an 18-point action plan to strengthen anti-money laundering protocols and reduce the possibility of terrorist financing.
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Source: www.casino.org
