Gov’t tightens screws on terror financing
The government has approved rules for tighter regulation of terrorist financing.
Mel Georgie Racela, executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat, said the government has approved the AMLC Registration and Reporting Guidelines (ARRG) aimed at improving the quality and usefulness of information and reports submitted by covered persons.
“The AMLC had long wanted a revamp of the system and rules on registration and reporting due to the surge in the number of covered persons and thus of their transactions,” he said.
The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001 as
amended and the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules (RIRR) require covered entities and persons such as banks, insurance companies and securities dealers to submit suspicious transaction reports (STRs) within five days from detection.
Determination of the suspicious nature of transaction should not exceed 10 calendar From Page 1 days, according to the new rules.
The four-part ARRG consolidates under one issuance all related AMLC resolutions. It is part of the comprehensive effort to provide the legal and policy framework for registration by covered persons into the AMLC’s online system to ensure proper and timely compliance with reporting procedures.
Racela pointed out the imposition of appropriate sanctions, after observance of due process, would ensure a culture of compliance among covered entities.
“Moreover, the quality of STRs had to be improved. The AMLC had also striven to find suitable ways to establish a central linkage among the supervising authorities that would facilitate our coordination,” he added.
Racela said the adoption of the ARRG should strengthen the tools available to the AMLC in its fight against money laundering and terror financing.
The ARRG, he explained, highlights the importance of the covered person’s compliance officer having access to all customer information files and transactions through an electronic or manual customer monitoring system.
He added two new facilities would now allow covered persons to upload Know-Your-Customer (KYC) documents for STRs and e-returns via the AMLC portal, if there is basis for suspecting commission of predicate crimes of kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, hijacking, destructive arson and murder, and acts of terrorism and terrorism financing.
The uploading of KYC documents should be done before the STR is uploaded.
Racela said proper controls should ensure confidentiality of the process.
He clarified the ARRG excludes casinos, which would have a separate set of registration and reporting guidelines.
He pointed out casinos were recently included as covered persons under the AMLA pursuant to Republic Act No. 10927 or the “Casino Law.”