Government puzzled by FATF decision

The government is puzzled by the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to keep the Philippines in the money-laundering blacklist despite compliance with its requirements.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin said yesterday the world financial body’s decision to keep the Philippines in its list of uncooperative countries is puzzling, but the government continues to study options in order to be stricken off the list.

"I don’t know why we’re still in the blacklist. We already complied with the requirements. We’ll see if we can exert some diplomatic effort," Ebdalin said, adding he is uncertain at this stage if the situation can still be remedied through diplomacy.

In 2000, the FATF included the Philippines in its non-cooperative list of countries and territories for lack of an anti-money laundering legislation. Congress passed in 2001 the Anti-Money Laundering Act to comply with the requirements of the FATF.

However, the AMLA failed to pass the standards of the FATF. On March 7 this year, the amendments were incorporated into the law and these are to be reviewed by the financial body.

The recent amendments passed by Congress is aimed at giving teeth to the country’s anti-money laundering efforts.

Aside from the Philippine, the list of FATF’s uncooperative countries includes the Cook Islands, Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nigeria and Ukraine.

The delisting is an imprimatur indicating that a country’s implementing plans are effective. But there will be a continuing review by FATF to ensure there is no sliding back.