Noy signs AMLA changes

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has moved to expand the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to include bribery and corruption, malversation of public funds and terrorism, among other offenses, to avert blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Tax evasion, however, was not included in the third batch of amendments that aim to make the law at par with international standards.

President Aquino signed yesterday Republic Act No. 10365, also known as An Act Further Strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law, giving more teeth to existing laws to stop dirty money from flowing into the country, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte announced.

Also included in the list of predicate crimes under the AMLA are swindling, fraud and illegal exactions and transactions; forgeries and counterfeiting, and trafficking in persons.

In the approved final version of the AMLA bill, casinos, including Internet casinos, were no longer included in the list of entities required to submit regular reports of covered transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, principal sponsor of the bill, admitted that the removal of casinos from the covered institutions created a hole in the law.

However, he said that the compromise on this was necessary in order to have the bill approved before the FATF’s plenary session on Feb. 18.

Guingona said that the law could be amended again to address whatever deficiencies may arise.

The approved bill added the following to the list of covered institutions under the AMLA: Foreign exchange dealers, pawnshops, money changers, remittance and transfer companies and other similar entities; pre-need companies; jewelry dealers in precious stones and metals for transactions in excess of P1 million.

Also covered are company service providers which, as a business, provide any of the following services to third parties: acting as a formation agent of juridical persons; acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a director or corporate secretary of a company, a partner of a partnership, or a similar position in relation to other juridical persons; providing a registered office, business address or accommodation, correspondence or administrative address for a company, a partnership or any other legal person or arrangement; and acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a nominee shareholder for another person.

Others are persons who provide any of the following services: managing of client money, securities or other assets; management of bank, savings or securities accounts; organization of contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies; and creation, operation or management of juridical persons or arrangements, and buying and selling business entities.

Lawyers and accountants acting as independent legal professionals in relation to information concerning their clients or where disclosure of information would compromise client confidences or attorney-client relationship are excluded from the list of covered persons and institutions.

Individual real estate transactions were initially included in the Senate bill but the final version gave the responsibility of reporting to the AMLC to the Land Registration Authority for amounts in excess of P500,000.

Penalties

Banks would now be penalized for receiving dirty money, the penalty of which would include imprisonment ranging from four to seven years and a fine corresponding to not more than 200 percent of the value of the monetary instrument or property laundered.

The penalty would be imposed on the covered bank, its directors, officers or personnel who knowingly participated in the commission of the crime of money laundering.