HALISTER1: Philippines Seeks Changes to Money Laundering, Bank Secrecy Laws

Philippines Seeks Changes to Money Laundering, Bank Secrecy Laws

(Bloomberg) -- Govt sent to lawmakers proposed changes such as including casinos in coverage of anti-money laundering, and including tax evasion as predicate crime, Finance Dept. says in e-mailed statement.
  • Proposal seeks to boost anti-money laundering council’s powers such as ability to issue subpoenas, ex parte freeze orders and adding unlawful activities to exemptions from a court order before a bank inquiry may be conducted
  • Govt seeks to increase monetary penalty for administrative sanctions, designate central bank as supervising authority over FX dealers, money changers, and remittance and money transfer businesses
  • Govt seeks to lift restrictions on bank secrecy on peso, FX deposits for tax purposes
  • Changes urgent after recent financial controversies that exploited weakness in tax and financial system’s legal framework
  • NOTE: Philippines Files Money Laundering Case Vs Remittance Officials Link
Alert: HALISTER1
Source: BFW (Bloomberg First Word)

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