Bill strengthening AMLA gets final Senate nod

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

Senate Bill No. 1945 garnered 21 affirmative votes and no negative votes during Monday’s session.

“There are cracks in our financial institutions that some people have used to their advantage. With the AMLA amendments, their days are numbered,” Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said in a statement.

“The amendments to the AMLA are responsive to emergent risks and challenges facing our financial system and at the same time, protective of the money of the people, including hard-earned cash of overseas Filipino workers,” she added.

Under the bill, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) functions were strengthened by “enhancing its investigative powers through express powers of deputization, the power to apply for search warrants, and power to obtain information on ultimate beneficial ownership.”

The proposed law also sought to fortify the functions of the AMLC by:

Authorizing it to implement targeted financial sanctions on proliferation financing
Authorizing it to preserve, manage or dispose of assets subject of asset preservation order and judgment forfeiture
Prohibiting the issuance of injunctive relief against freeze orders and forfeiture proceedings under its jurisdiction.
Other amendments to the AMLA under the measure focus on the inclusion of offshore gaming operators and service providers introduced as different sets of “covered persons from casinos.”

The bill also deals with tax crimes covered by AMLA and their proposed threshold. It also proposed a section on information security and confidentiality and a system of incentives and rewards.

Poe earlier said the measure was crafted as a response to the key findings of the mutual evaluation report or MER, which evaluated the Philippines’ compliance with the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Money Laundering.

“If we fail to act now, the FATF Asia Pacific Joint Group or AP-JG will place the Philippines in the so-called ‘grey list’ along with countries like Albania, Pakistan, Panama, Syria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe,” she had said.

“Being on this list is a very strong signal to market participants and regulators globally. It has implications which we must avoid as much as we can, especially during the time of a global pandemic,” she added.

The measure will be finalized after the Senate and the House of Representatives reconcile the bill’s disagreeing provision in a bicameral conference committee meeting.

The lower chamber approved their version of the bill last December.

The ratified version will then be sent to Malacañang for the President’s signature.

EDV