Gov't hopes recent AMLA changes will prevent financial blacklisting

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is hoping that recently Congress-approved changes to the country’s law against “dirty” money that were required by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will prevent the country from being blacklisted anew by the international financial watchdog. “There is no guarantee,”  former AMLC executive director Vicente Aquino told reporters in an ambush interview, when asked if the country can miss another blacklisting. “We just hope for best—that they will recognize the efforts of Congress and the Aquino administration to adhere to international standards,” he added. Julia Bacay-Abad, officer-in-charge at AMLA, echoed the view. “Majority of what they (FATF) is asking for was passed by Congress,” she said. Early this month, Congress rushed to ratify a bill putting more teeth to Republic Act (RA) 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). The bill expands the institutions and individuals covered by the law to include foreign exchange corporations, money changers, remittance centers and similar establishments, pre-need companies, and precious stones and metal dealers. The FATF will meet on February 18 to 22 in Paris to review progress of member countries. Bacay-Abad noted that the AMLC is now revising the implementing rules and regulations of the country's Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) amendments to the law were passed. “Nothing is more important than missing blacklisting,” said Bacay-Abad. She noted this is “very important” for over 10 million overseas Filipinos who send money back home and keep the country's largely consumption driven economy. “There have been reports that OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] have experienced hardships in transactions since we were put in grey list. We don't want them to experience that,” Bacay-Abad added. Early last year, the FATF downgraded the Philippines to its dark grey list, warning a blacklisting. It had asked the country to expand predicate crimes and covered institutions under the law as well as to criminalize terrorist financing.   A blacklisting means possible sanctions to be imposed by the international financial community, like more costly and stricter requirements for financial transactions. During a plenary in June 2012, the watchdog upgraded the country to the grey list after RAs 10167 and 10168 expanding predicate crimes and criminalizing terrorist financing, respectively, were signed into law by President Benigno S. Aquino III just before the FATF met in Rome that month. But if the financial watchdog is not satisfied, it may blacklist the Philippines as a country can only be put in the dark grey list once. The FATF, established in 1989 following a G-7 summit, is in-charge of developing and promoting policies against money laundering and terrorist financing. It currently comprises 34 countries and two regional organizations. The Philippines is an indirect member by virtue of its being one of the founders, in 1997, of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, which became an FATF associate in 2006. — BM, GMA News