Homeland Security

Anti-Money Laundering Group Cites Progress in Philippines

(March 13 press release from Financial Action Task Force) (580)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international group
established in 1989 to combat money laundering, says that the
Philippines will remain on its list of "non-cooperative countries and
territories (NCCTs)" until it has implemented its new anti-money
laundering legislation effectively, but will not be subject to
additional counter-measures.
FATF President Jochen Sanio said: "This is a significant success for
the FATF and the Philippines in the fight against money laundering.
Close monitoring of implementation issues will be crucial in
determining an appropriate time for the Philippines' removal from the
NCCT list."
Following is the text of a March 13 press release on the issue from
the FATF:
(begin text)
Paris, 13 March 2003
FATF decides not to impose counter-measures on the Philippines
Members of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have decided not to
apply any countermeasures (1) to the Philippines in addition to
Recommendation 21 (2). This decision is the result of the enactment on
7 March 2003 of Republic Act No. 9194, which amends the Philippine
Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001. The new legislation addresses the
main legal deficiencies in the Philippine anti-money laundering regime
previously identified by the FATF.
However, the Philippines will remain on the list of non-cooperative
countries and territories (NCCTs) until it has implemented effectively
its new anti-money laundering legislation. FATF President Jochen Sanio
said: "This is a significant success for the FATF and the Philippines
in the fight against money laundering. Close monitoring of
implementation issues will be crucial in determining an appropriate
time for the Philippines' removal from the NCCT list." The FATF will
monitor the situation in the Philippines and will discuss appropriate
next steps at its next Plenary meeting in Berlin, Germany on 18-20
June 2003.
Further information about the FATF and its work on non-cooperative
countries and territories can be found at: http://www.fatf-gafi.org.
The FATF is an independent international body whose Secretariat is
housed at the OECD. The twenty-nine member countries and governments
of the FATF are: Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brazil;
Canada; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong, China;
Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Luxembourg; Mexico; the Kingdom of the
Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Portugal; Singapore; Spain; Sweden;
Switzerland; Turkey; United Kingdom and the United States. Two
international organisations are also members of the FATF: the European
Commission and the Gulf Co-operation Council. South Africa and Russia
are observer countries.
For further information, please contact Helen Fisher, OECD Media
Relations Division (tel: 33 1 45 24 80 97 or helen.fisher@oecd.org) or
the FATF Secretariat (tel: 33 1 45 24 79 45 or contact@fatf-gafi.org).
(1) The counter-measures agreed in June 2001 are contained in the FATF
Review to Identify Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories:
Increasing the Worldwide Effectiveness of Anti-Money Laundering
Measures (22 June 2001) at: www.fatf-gafi.org/NCCT_en.htm.
(2) Recommendation 21 applies to all countries on the NCCTs list and
states that "Financial institutions should give special attention to
business relations and transactions with persons, including companies
and financial institutions, from countries which do not or
insufficiently apply these Recommendations. Whenever these
transactions have no apparent economic or visible lawful purpose,
their background and purpose should, as far as possible, be examined,
the findings established in writing, and be available to help
supervisors, auditors and law enforcement agencies."
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)