A proposed measure that could spare the Philippines from being blacklisted by an international anti-money laundering task force moves a step closer to being enacted after the Senate approved it on second reading on Wednesday. Sponsored by Sen. Francis Escudero, Senate Bill (SB) 1468 seeks to put more teeth into the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) by including the casino industry in the list of institutions covered by the law. The APG, in its report dated November 23, 2016 during the group’s High Level Visit in Manila on November 17-18, 2016, urged the Philippine government to include casinos under AMLA coverage before the next APG meeting in July 2017. Escudero said the blacklist tag would put the country under stringent international financial scrutiny, which might increase the cost of bank transactions abroad and affect remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The senator said the heist highlighted a vulnerable aspect in the country’s anti-money laundering efforts and underlined the FATF’s conditions with regard to casinos.

Source: Manila Times May 25, 2017 13:52 UTC