Escudero prods Senate to pass anti-money laundering law amendments

Senator Chiz Escudero has urged the Senate to approve amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) that places casinos within the purview of the law so the Philippines would not be blacklisted by an international monitoring group.
 
Escudero, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, said in a statement on Thursday that Senate should pass Senate Bill No. 1468 before the June 2017 deadline given by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG).
 
“Failure to enact the required legislation within the given time frame would put the Philippines under monitoring of the International Review Group of the FATF, which could eventually result in the possible blacklisting of the Philippines,” Escudero said. 
 
He pointed out that it was the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism watchdog, which recommended that casinos be included under the AMLA to keep the Philippines from getting blacklisted.
 
Escudero warned that getting blacklisted could affect remittances of overseas Filipino workers as the country is placed under stringent international financial scrutiny that could increase the cost of money transfers.
 
His bill was approved on second reading.
 
Under the proposed amendment, casinos would report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council if the accumulated bets within a 24-hour period reached P3 million ($60,000).
 
The review of the law came after $81 million was stolen from the Bangladesh Bank account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The money was then diverted to four fake bank accounts in the Philippines. — VDS, GMA News