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on Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Standing Office 81
Notices

Targeted financial sanctions obligations and designated lists relating to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and proliferation financing

Notices

30 October 2026UN Security Council updates the sanctions list (30/10/2026)

The Philippines makes significant progress in addressing anti-money laundering deficiencies

Tiếng Việt

Unofficial translation from the Vietnamese original.

The Philippines continues to make significant progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime ahead of the deadline set by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

Based on the third mutual evaluation report on the Philippines, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) upgraded the Philippines' compliance ratings for two recommendations from partially compliant (PC) to largely compliant (LC).

The APG said the Philippines had addressed deficiencies relating to the regulation of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), in particular that the licensing procedures of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) covered only the board of directors and not shareholders or beneficial owners, as well as the lack of accurate information on land-based casinos under the supervision of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) and the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO).

At the peak in February 2021, there were 50 PAGCOR and 25 CEZA licensees for offshore gaming, compared with 4 at the time of the 2019 mutual evaluation report.

These deficiencies also included real estate agents, which were not covered persons under any AML/CFT legal framework.

The APG said PAGCOR had issued additional guidance, effective from January, on sample testing. In addition, the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and its implementing rules and regulations had been amended to add covered persons, including real estate developers and brokers. The Philippines is also continuing to develop a legal framework for risk-based supervision of the DNFBP sectors.

Furthermore, the APG said the Philippines had also addressed Recommendation 32, concerning the absence of a competent authority to request and obtain further information from carriers in cases of false declaration or non-declaration. Likewise, penalties in the form of imprisonment for offences were not proportionate, and competent authorities were not clearly empowered to restrain currency and bearer negotiable instruments suspected of being related to money laundering, terrorist financing or other offences.

According to the APG, the Philippines demonstrated that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) had the authority to request and obtain further information from carriers in cases of false declaration, and had introduced proportionate fines for false declaration or non-declaration depending on the currency and the value of illegally exported or imported goods.

The APG said the Philippines had made good progress in addressing the technical compliance deficiencies identified in the mutual evaluation report and had been re-rated to LC for Recommendations 28 and 32.

However, the Philippines remains rated PC for Recommendation 15 on new technologies, Recommendation 25 on transparency and beneficial ownership, and Recommendation 39 on extradition.

In June 2022 (one year after being placed on the grey list and making a high-level political commitment), the FATF kept the Philippines on the grey list, stressing the need to further strengthen its action plan to address strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and countering proliferation financing. However, the FATF was confident that the Philippines would exit the grey list before January 2023, as the country had committed to swiftly addressing the identified strategic deficiencies within the agreed timeframe.

Centre 81 - Huy Hiep