The government of the Philippines has been put on notice by the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council” enact stricter anti-money laundering rules by October 2020 or risk being placed on a “grey” list by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force.
A place on the global monitoring list would impose additional restrictions on international banking transactions involving Philippine nationals, the AMLC said; it can also lead to being listed on the FATF blacklist, which involves more serious penalties.
The AMLC has requested additional safeguards, including:
- Greater investigative powers
- Bringing tax crimes and trade in materials used for nuclear weapons under the anti-money laundering framework
- Implementing targeted financial sanctions for terrorism and terrorism financing
- Criminalizing financing of terrorist travel and of foreign terrorist fighters under the nation’s Human Security Act
