Benjamin E Diokno: Keynote message - 18th AMLC Anniversary
Keynote message by Mr Benjamin E Diokno, Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the
central bank of the Philippines), at the 18th AMLC Anniversary, Kuala Lumpur, 23 October 2019.
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Atty. Jorge S. Brania, head of AML Desk of Insurance Commission, Anti-Money Laundering
Council Member and Insurance Commissioner, Atty. Dennis B. Funa.
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Javey Paul D. Francisco, who is attending on behalf of
AMLC Member and SEC Chairperson, Atty. Emilio B. Aquino.
AMLC Secretariat Executive Director, Atty. Mel Georgie B. Racela.
Men and women of the AMLC Secretariat, good afternoon and welcome to the 18th Anniversary
of the AMLC.
Eighteen is a significant number. In the Philippines, like in most countries, the age of majority is
18. It is a coming of age, a transition into adulthood. And this is very fitting for the AMLC as we
are also undergoing a transformation.
We are doing so by introducing improvements in our policies and operations with the hope that
they will be beneficial to our country long after our terms have ended.
To be honest, the year has gone by fast, but it has been a productive and exciting one for the
AMLC.
First. The AMLC adopted the 2018 Implementing Rules and Regulations of the AMLA, as
amended. The new rules ensure that covered persons will be held accountable for their violations
of the AMLA. It also requires covered persons to adopt robust anti-money laundering and
terrorism financing prevention programs.
The AMLC also issued the Guidelines on Identifying Beneficial Ownership which seeks to
promote transparency in the use of legal persons, legal arrangements, and nominee
arrangements. This is to ensure that these types of arrangements will be legitimately used and
not for the purpose of distancing one's identity from the proceeds of crime.
Second. The AMLC has strengthened its cooperation and coordination with partner law
enforcement agencies in the drive against money laundering and terrorism financing. The AMLC
has conducted various workshops with its partners as means to widen their awareness of
different money laundering typologies, and to capacitate them in detecting and preventing such
activities. In turn, the AMLC continues to benefit from having established relationships with law
enforcement partners in the area of development of money laundering and terrorism financing
cases.
Third. From January 2018 to July 2019, the AMLC was able to produce tangible results of its
investigation efforts and cause the freezing of assets with an estimated value of over one billion
pesos. It also actively caused the forfeiture of assets with an estimated value of 600 million
pesos. All these investigation efforts helped in the development of 11 money laundering
complaints, two terrorism financing complaints, 23 applications for bank inquiry for money
laundering, and three applications for bank inquiry for terrorism financing.
These are only possible through the unrelenting efforts of the competent men and women of the
AMLCS.
Fourth. The AMLC conducted risk assessment and strategic studies, the latest of which
assessed the Philippines' exposure to threats linked to child pornography. It was an example of a
study that made use of the rich information contained in AMLC's database based on the
submissions of covered persons.
Fifth. The Philippines is in the latter stage of the Mutual Evaluation (ME) which gauges the
country's levels of technical compliance with international anti-money
laundering/counterterrorism financing or AML/CTF standards as well as effectiveness of the country's existing
AML/CTF system.
Prior to the ME Report (MER), the AMLC conducted a self-assessment based on the existing
legal framework, operations of competent authorities, and statistics to forecast the evaluation
results.
On effectiveness, the assessment reflected accurate ratings for seven out of the 11 Immediate
Outcomes (IOs), while on technical compliance, the assessment reflected accurate ratings for
34 out of the 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations.
Following the adoption of the MER, the Philippines has entered a 12-month observation period,
the completion of which requires the country to submit a comprehensive progress report to the
Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) focused on the implementation of its
recommended actions. This 12-month observation period gives us an opportunity for the country
to remedy identified shortcomings in the MER.
As such, I enjoin everyone to work even harder to ensure that the Philippines is able to
successfully exit the 12-month observation period. We cannot afford to have the Philippines in
the Financial Action Task Force's list of high risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions. Hence, we
should be very strategic in our focus for the next 12 months.
With perseverance, a reinforced Secretariat and a closer link with partner agencies, I am
confident that we will be able to address the country's weak AML/CFT areas.
As the world continues to evolve, the AMLC and its Secretariat should expect more challenges
ahead. We should all heed the call to be better, bolder, and more committed in ensuring that the
Philippines will not be used as a money laundering site or a haven for terrorist groups.
Today, as we mark 18 years of fighting money laundering and terrorism financing, we
acknowledge and celebrate all the hard work that has come to fruition. Allow me to thank
everyone for the steadfast support you continue to give the Council. The work before us may be
daunting, but with able and spirited people behind the AMLC, I am confident that we can remain
agile in the pursuit of our mandate.
Thank you and happy anniversary to all