Diokno urges AMLC to meet shortcomings on AML, CTF

MANILA – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno has urged the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to ensure a positive end of the 12-month observation period for the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER).

In his speech during AMLC’s 18th-anniversary celebration on October 23, the BSP chief, who serves as the concurrent chair of the Council, said Mutual Evaluation measures a country’s level of technical compliance with international anti-money laundering (AML) or counterterrorism financing (CTF) standards.

The ME also gauges the effectiveness of a jurisdictheir

tion’s existing AML and CTF.

Diokno said AMLC has done a self-evaluation of its AML and CFT based on the current legal framework, operations of competent authorities and statistics.

Results of the self-assessment showed that on effectiveness, AMLC achieved accurate ratings on seven of the 11 Immediate Outcomes (IOs) while it is technically compliant on 34 of the 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, he said.

The central bank chief said the country is “in the latter stage” of the ME and AMLC must submit a comprehensive progress report to the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering regarding its recommended actions.