.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
New AMLC Member: SEC Chairperson Emilio Benito Aquino
On 6 June 2018, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte appointed Atty. Emilio Benito Aquino as the new Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Chairperson Aquino took his oath of office on the same day and now joins the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as it newest Member. Under Section 7 of Republic Act No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended, the AMLC shall be composed of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor as Chairman, and the Insurance Commissioner and the SEC Chairperson as Members.
Chairperson Aquino replaces outgoing SEC Chairperson Teresita J. Herbosa, whose seven-year term ended on 11 March 2018. She continued to serve in a holdover capacity, however, until Chairperson Aquino’s appointment.
Previously, Chairperson Aquino served as the Supervising Commissioner on Enforcement, Human Resources, and Administration and as the youngest director of the SEC’s former Prosecution and Enforcement and Non-Traditional Securities and Instruments Departments. While practicing public accountancy and law, he also taught commercial law at Ateneo de Zamboanga University and Western Mindanao State University for over a decade.
In 1984, he graduated magna cum laude and valedictorian at the University of Zamboanga with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce, major in Accounting. He received a rating of 89.14% in the Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination. He completed his law studies at San Beda College and placed 16th in the 1992 bar exams.
AMLC ADOPTS ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND COUNTER-TERRORISM FINANCING GUIDELINES FOR DNFBPs
In its Resolution No. 59, dated 9 May 2018, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) approved the adoption of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) Guidelines for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs). Said Guidelines are based on Republic Act (RA) No. 10365, which included as covered persons jewelry dealers in precious stones and metals; company service providers who deliver fund/securities management services for other persons, and persons and entities who, as a business, provide services to organize, create and manage companies and arrangements.
The Guidelines for DNFBPs were patterned largely after the “Casino Implementing Rules and Regulations” (CIRR), which the AMLC approved on 11 October 2017. Republic Act (RA) No. 10927, approved on 14 July 2017, included casinos as covered persons under RA No. 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (AMLA) and authorized the AMLC to adopt implementing rules and regulations. Both casinos the non-financial businesses and professions above are considered DNFBPs by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international policy-making body that sets standards and promotes effective implementation of measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
DNFBP AML-CFT Regulatory Guidelines click here
Read more: AMLC ADOPTS ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND COUNTER-TERRORISM FINANCING GUIDELINES FOR DNFBPs
AMLCS issues Operational Guidelines in the Conduct of the 2018 Third Round Mutual Evaluation of the Philippines
Executive Director Mel Georgie B. Racela of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Secretariat issued AMLC Letter No. AMLET-18-03 dated 20 April 2018, providing for Operational Guidelines in the Conduct of the 2018 Third Round Mutual Evaluation of the Philippines. He issued the Guidelines pursuant to the Memorandum dated 22 February 2018 of Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, as authorized by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
The Guidelines aim to (a) create an inter-agency Mutual Evaluation (ME) Working Group (WG) and sub-working groups (SWGs); (b) enumerate the functions and obligations of the member-agencies with respect to the ME process; (c) outline the ME process and provide guidance as to the different components of the process; (d) provide timelines for the ME process and ME-related activities; (e) enumerate effects of a “non-compliant” or “poor” ME; and (f) lay down the framework towards the adoption of a National AML/CFT Policy Strategy. The Guidelines are addressed to all participating government agencies and other entities.
The Mutual Evaluation (ME) is a government-wide concern as what will be assessed is the compliance of the Philippines with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Forty Recommendations and the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering/counterfinancing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. The entire ME process spans two (2) years, and will require the support and active participation of various government agencies, including supervisory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and public and private stakeholders. The Philippines will be evaluated by a pool of experts from Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from other member-jurisdictions of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), pursuant to the APG’s membership rules.
The Philippines has undergone MEs in 2003 and 2008. This 2018, the Philippines will undergo the Third Round ME. In 2008, the Philippines underwent the Second Round ME, in which its technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations was assessed. The Philippines was rated poorly due to major shortcomings in the country’s AML/CFT legal framework. Consequently, the Philippines was placed in the FATF’s “grey list” and deemed a “high risk” jurisdiction. It was subjected to the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) process. With the passage of Republic Act No. 10365, introducing significant reforms in the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (AMLA), the Philippines was removed from the “grey list” and the list of ICRG-monitored jurisdictions.
Since 2013, the Philippines has made significant improvements in its AML/CFT regime, including the passage of RA No. 10927, which included casinos as covered persons, the adoption of the Rules on the Imposition of Administrative Sanctions, amendment of the AMLA’s implementing rules and regulations, and the adoption of codified registration and reporting guidelines, to name a few. The Philippines is targeting a favorable rating for both technical compliance and effectiveness standards.
For the full text of AMLC Letter No. AMLET-18-03, click here.
Annex B: Scope and members of the different Sub-Working Groups (SWG), click here
AMLC Secures 55 Convictions for Money Laundering against company secretary
A liaison officer and secretary to the president of a chemical trader-distributor was convicted for fifty-five (55) counts of money laundering based on investigative findings of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
In a fifty-six (56)-page Decision promulgated on 18 April 2018, Presiding Judge Caridad M. Walse-Lutero of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City, found Annabella C. Ylagan guilty beyond reasonable doubt for fifty-five (55) counts of money laundering, and sentenced her to seven (7) years’ imprisonment for each count.
The AMLC, the country’s financial intelligence unit (FIU) and enforcer of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended (AMLA), proved that Ylagan transferred funds from her employer’s accounts in three (3) banks to a bank account she opened under fictitious bank accounts under the name “Lourdes R. Liu” and a company purportedly created by Ylagan. Ylagan’s modus operandi involved routing faxing of forged letters of authority, instructing banks to transfer funds from her employer’s accounts to her own fictitious accounts. Ylagan amassed Php12 million over a four (4)-year period.
Read more: AMLC Secures 55 Convictions for Money Laundering against company secretary