The Philippines aims to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list this month, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said yesterday.
The grey list consists of countries that are actively working with the FATF to address the strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
“The aim of the government is to exit the gray list by January 2024,” said AMLC Executive Director Matthew David in a Palace briefing.
“The President reiterated the government’s high-level political commitment and directed all government agencies concerned to strictly address the remaining strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF in relation to the grey listing of the Philippines,” he added.
The FATF placed the Philippines on the grey list in June 2021.
President Marcos earlier issued Executive Order No. 33 directing all government agencies and local government units to adopt the National Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing Strategy (NACS) 2023-2027.
“This is part of the government’s efforts to move the Philippines out of the grey list of the FATF’s ‘Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring’ of countries that failed to show tangible and positive progress in addressing all key recommended actions in the Third Mutual Evaluation Report (MER),” the EO said.
The new strategy creates an additional sub-committee on proliferation financing, which is defined by the FATF as the provision of funds or financial services used for the manufacture, acquisition, possession, development, export, trans-shipment, brokering, transport, transfer, stockpiling or use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.
David said the President emphasized the importance of continued coordination among government agencies to comply with the order.
“The FATF gave us 18 recommended actions, items which we should address… to measure and assess the effectiveness of the rules and regulations, and the laws we have passed,” the AMLC official said.
“There are repercussions for being on the grey list because the longer we are on the grey list, the bigger the possibility or the higher the risk that we will enter the black list. We aim to avoid being blacklisted, as it carries repercussions, including impacts on transactions involving Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs),” he added.
Possible consequences include increased remittance service costs, stricter requirements, and a higher likelihood of transaction denials or disapprovals.