THE Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies is eyeing tougher provisions for inclusion in the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) to cast a wider net in running after money launderers.
Sen. Francis G. Escudero, committee chairman, set a public hearing on Monday to harmonize at least five bills seeking to amend laws covering money laundering and secrecy of bank deposits, earlier filed by Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III and Sens.Panfilo M. Lacson, Leila M. de Lima and MiguelF. Zubiri.
In filing Senate Bill 115, Pimentel noted that Republic Act 1405, also known as the law on secrecy of bank deposits, was enacted 61 years ago to encourage people to deposit money in banking institutions and discourage private-fund hoarding, so banks can use the funds to extend loans that boost the country’s economic development.
Under the old law, he recalled that all deposits of whatever nature are absolutely confidential and may generally not be inquired or looked into.
Pimentel then proceeded to cite a recent Senate Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry into the $81-million Bangladesh Bank fund heist that showed how the Philippines’s bank-secrecy law, known to be among the strictest in terms of confidentiality and nondisclosure, can be misused to provide protection to spurious and fictitious accounts, “thereby frustrating efforts at uncovering crimes and wrongdoings.”
The Senate president said it was, therefore, necessary to amend the bank-secrecy law to ensure that only bonafide deposits are protected by this law and update the same by providing for additional exemptions recognized under the jurisprudence and existing laws.
Doing so, he added, would make the Philippine banking system “globally competitive and attuned to the present policies and practices of international trade and commerce.”
A separate bill filed by Sen.Lacson, at the same time, aims to expand coverage of the Amla to reach nonfinancial businesses and professions, including casinos, real-estate brokers, as well as art and vehicle dealers to bolster efforts by authorities in going after money launderers.
Lacson’s Senate Bill 45 ensued from findings by the Financial Task Force on the modus of money launderers using such businesses and professions as cover for illegal transactions. The Task Force noted that state-authorized casinos were also tagged as attractive and convenient for syndicates engaged in money-laundering activities.
The senator pointed out in the bill that while the contributions of the [casino] industry are acknowledged, “it is also understood that casinos are equally exposed to the raging threats of money laundering.”
Lacson cited the Bank of Bangladesh cyber heist in February 2016 that, he said, “exposed the Amla’s vulnerabilities in curtailing money-laundering schemes in the Philippines,” recalling a huge sum of the laundered money was moved to casinos through junket operators.
Lacson’s bill proposes to bolster Anti-Money Laundering Act coverage with the inclusion of casinos, real-estate brokers, art dealers and motor-vehicle dealers as covered persons.
He also proposed changing the nomenclature for the covered person, “jewelry dealers” in precious metals and stones to “dealers” in precious metals and stones, and including “jewelry dealers” as a separate covered person.
Moreover, Lacson’s bill seeks to designate the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as the supervising authority of foreign-exchange dealers, money changers, remittance and money-transfer businesses, for purposes of the Amla
At the same time, it also expands the list of unlawful activities covered by Amla, to include violations of firearms and ammunitions regulation act; cybercrimes, violations of Strategic Trade Management Act regarding weapons of mass destruction, and tax evasion.