Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
SEN. Panfilo Lacson filed a bill that seeks to further strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to enable it to address complex financial crimes.
The Senate president pro tempore on Thursday said recent corruption issues have highlighted the complexities of financial crimes.
He filed Senate Bill (SB) 1557 granting the AMLC additional powers while widening the scope of covered persons and updating the list of predicate offenses to money laundering.
“Updating the AMLA to meet the requirements of the times would also prevent us from being placed in the FATF Greylist again,” Lacson said in filing the bill.
The senator noted that the Philippines will be subjected to the FATF’s fifth round of global mutual evaluations in 2027.
Get the latest news
delivered to your inbox
Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters
By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
In privilege speeches in August and September, Lacson detailed the corruption behind substandard and ghost flood control projects and how some of those involved gambled away public funds in casinos.
SB 1557 seeks to introduce the following amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act: designate trusts and virtual asset service providers as covered persons; clarify that the threshold for jewelry dealers and dealers in precious metals and stones pertains to covered transaction reports; inclusion of the respective definitions of transactional and continuing violation of any applicable law or regulation issued by the AMLC or its authorized officer; update and expand the list of offenses as predicate offenses to money laundering; set the threshold for conducting customer due diligence by casinos to P150,000, equivalent to the FATF-prescribed threshold of US$3,000 with a system of verifying the true identity of their clients; authorize the AMLC to issue a non-court-based subpoena instead of the current court-based one; authorize the AMLC to file petitions for freeze order and civil forfeiture directly or through the Office of the Solicitor General; improve the efficiency of the AMLC in conducting bank inquiries without a court order, similar to the AMLC’s current power to conduct non-court-based bank inquiries in cases related to kidnapping, illegal drug crimes, terrorism, terrorism financing, arson and murder; authorize the AMLC to visit and inspect covered persons to ensure compliance, administer oaths or affirmations in discharging its mandate, and strengthen its quasi-judicial functions in handling administrative cases, among others.
Advertisement
The measure also seeks to expand the coverage of Information Security and Confidentiality Provision against the AMLC and its staff to include all other persons to whom AMLC information was allowed to be shared, to ensure accountability to anyone who gets information from the AMLC.
The bill enhances the AMLC’s role as the country’s independent central anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing authority.
The council shall function as the financial intelligence unit, specialized money laundering and terrorism financing investigation agency, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator and supervisor of the Philippines.
Under the bill, the list of covered persons is expanded to include those buying and selling real estate; lawyers and accountants of covered persons; online gambling operators regardless of their license classification; and virtual asset service providers.The measure will also allow the indemnification of the AMLC or its staff against costs incurred in “harassment suits.” It will also grant the council authority to suspend transactions as a preemptive measure to let the AMLC and covered persons to hold off any transaction suspected of being related to money laundering, terrorism financing, or any other unlawful activity.
