Push for Philippines to avoid blacklist

Financial regulators are pushing for legal changes in order to avoid the Philippines being placed on a global monitoring list for countries with weak anti-money laundering and terrorism financing controls.

The government needs to implement the changes by October or risk being placed on a “grey” list by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, the Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Council said on Tuesday.

That would impose additional restrictions on international banking transactions involving Philippine nationals, the AMLC said. It can also be a prelude to being placed on the FATF blacklist, which involves more serious penalties.

In 2012, the Philippines narrowly missed being blacklisted after it criminalised terrorist financing and allowed quicker freezing of suspect accounts. Since then, the country has tightened up on various areas, including transactions by casinos and jewellery traders.