The Philippines orders its gaming regulator to inspect and reinforce its anti-money laundering measures.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. of the Philippines is striving to remove his country from the FATF grey list, a collection of jurisdictions struggling to thwart money laundering and terrorism financing activities. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organization based in Paris and established in 1989, was founded by the Group of Seven nations and is responsible for setting global standards to combat illegal activities that negatively impact the world.
FATF consists of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the EU. Over 200 countries have pledged compliance with FATF's anti-money laundering and terrorism financing measures. Unfortunately, the Philippines is not among that number.
In June, the FATF placed the Philippines on its "Increased Monitoring" list, urging the country to address its noted shortcomings in these areas. This designation is casually referred to as the FATF "grey list."
When a country is under increased monitoring, FATF expects them to "resolve swiftly" their identified issues. The "Increased Monitoring" list is a list that highlights those nations.
PAGCOR and Instruction
A few days ago, Marcos ordered 44 government organizations to conform to the FATF's suggestions to more stringently examine substantial financial transactions. Among these agencies is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
PAGCOR is a public entity that manages commercial casinos in Manila and in the nation's designated freeport areas. It also operates Casino Filipino venues across the Southeast Asian country.
Marcos has asked PAGCOR to engage in the Philippines' Money Laundering/Terrorism Financing National Risk Assessment (ML/TF NRA). Other agencies expected to participate include the Philippine Bureau of Customs, Immigration, the Philippine National Police, and the Department of Finance.
According to Marcos' memorandum, each agency should send "a high-ranking member who has technical knowledge and operational experience on the matter, and who is fully authorized to make decisions for or on their behalf."
The Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council will be the lead agency for the ML/TF NRA.
Casinos and Laundering
The most high-profile casino-linked incident involving money laundering in the Philippines took place in 2016 when North Korean hackers allegedly withdrew $81 million from the Bangladesh Bank's account at the US Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan.
This money was laundered through an account with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation in the Philippines. Bloomberry Resorts' Solaire Resort Casino in Manila's Entertainment City was one of the facilities where these funds were laundered.
Bangladesh is still attempting to retrieve the stolen funds by suing RCBC for failing to recognize the customer. The case has reached the New York Supreme Court, which stated it lacked jurisdiction over Bloomberry due to the latter not being involved in the overseas transfer of funds.
The hackers attempted to withdraw a total of nearly $1 billion but were halted when a Federal Reserve official recognized a discrepancy in the spelling of "foundation" in one of the withdrawal requests, leading to further examination and the discovery of the scam.
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Source: www.casino.org
