Pursuant to US government request, local authorities have alerted all banks and non-bank financial institutions to report transactions involving an alleged North Korean organization and a so-called Banco Delta Asia SARL which are believed to be engaged in money laundering activities.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in a circular issued last month, directed banks and non-bank financial institutions under its supervision to report directly to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) any transactions related to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Banco Delta Asia SARL.

The directive came after the US Department of Treasury sent an advisory warning that "the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), acting through government agencies and associated front companies that are known to have engaged in illicit activities may be seeking banking services elsewhere following a finding that Banco Delta Asia SARL is a financial institution of ‘primary money laundering concern’."

The detection of suspicious transactions should be easy because banks have began phasing out all manual anti-money laundering processes in the financial system to shift to a more efficient electronic system.

The requirement, the BSP said, manifests its continuous cooperation with international efforts under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to implement measures to counter the use of the financial system by criminals.

The Paris-based FATF dropped the Philippines from its list of havens for dirty or laundered money last February given the successful implementation of anti-money laundering measures by the AMLC.

Last year, the Egmont Group also admitted the AMLC as one of its seven new members after it expressed satisfaction over the effective implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. BusinessWorld