Philippines signs new anti-money laundering law

President Rodrigo Duterte recently enacted new and improved laws to prevent money laundering. The anti-money laundering law is known to prevent the sweep of illegal capital in casinos.

The move will be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist as the Philippines will make conscious efforts to improve the current situation. This Wednesday, Republic Act 10927 was signed to prevent illegal cash inflows from the casino sector.

This is in line with one of the most important meetings in the field: the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Warning (APG) meeting. Senator Cheese Escudero, chairman of the Senate Banking, Financial Institutions and Currency Board, said the decision was in the country’s great interest because it was no longer threatened by strict financial surveillance. The financial action task force’s blacklist could also affect remittances by Philippine workers based in the country.

The scope of the new law is very wide and extends it to all kinds of casinos, including online and ship sales. According to the law, all transactions worth 5 million PHPs (US$100,000) must be reported immediately to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). Meanwhile, PHP 500,000 (US$10,000) is the threshold for non-game recipients. Such a guardian may be any kind of casino and their cash transactions related to game operations.

Another thing the new law will enforce is to empower the Court of Appeals (CA) to order a 20-day ban on currency instruments and property if illegal activities are detected. During this time, the Court of Appeals will form a summary hearing to determine whether the freeze order should be lifted or extended to a maximum of six months.

Although anti-money laundering laws already existed in the Philippines, their legitimacy was questioned following a bank robbery in Bangladesh . In the robbery, as much as $81 million of stolen cash was laundered through the Philippine gambling industry. According to Philippine central bank governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., the anti-money laundering council will soon organize a meeting to discuss through the implementation of the newly signed rules and regulations of the law.

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