According to a new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Philippine casino sector poses “medium” risk to the global standing of the Asian country due to the perceived inadequacy of its anti-money laundering (AML) policies and history of combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT).
According to GGRAsia, the report was based on information available at the time the document was completed in February 2021. In June of last year, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added the Philippines to its “grey list” of jurisdictions that need increased monitoring in relation to risk of financial crimes. In a headline-making cyber-heist case in 2016, some of the $81 million stolen from the Bank of Bangladesh passed through Philippine banks and several Philippine casinos.
The IMF’s update said: “International confidence could diminish from insufficient supervision and monitoring of casinos, the gaming industry, and cryptocurrency exchanges, which could be abused for financial crimes.”
It added: “The strict bank secrecy laws that limit financial supervisors’ access to individual depositors could encourage criminals to misuse Philippine banks for fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes.”
