The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday welcomed the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recognition of key reforms that the Philippines achieved in its anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) initiatives.
It made the statement after the FATF on Oct. 25, 2024 announced that it made the initial determination that the Philippines substantially completed its action plan and warrants an onsite assessment.
“The onsite assessment will verify if the implementation of AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment is in place to sustain implementation of reforms,” the BSP said.
“The Philippines will be removed from the FATF grey list after successful verification,” it said.
A grey list exit will benefit Filipinos, especially overseas Filipino workers, through faster and cheaper remittances and other cross-border transactions, the BSP said.
The Philippines was included in the FATF grey list in June 2021. Since then, the BSP said it had worked with the national government to further strengthen the country’s risk-based anti-money laundering/countering terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CTPF) supervisory regime.
Under the National AML/CFT Coordinating Committee’s Supervision of Financial Institutions Sub-Committee, the BSP said it helped the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Securities and Exchange Commission and Insurance Commission achieve significant milestones in risk-based AML/CTPF supervision.
The BSP said it also carried out relevant action plans to enhance money service business supervision and the effectiveness of targeted financial sanctions framework for terrorism and proliferation financing. It has implemented and sufficiently addressed these action plans within the set timelines in 2022.
The BSP said it is committed to reinforcing the integrity of the Philippine financial system and continues to conduct risk-based AML/CTPF examinations, thematic reviews and capacity building programs.
The BSP said it also recognizes the continuing efforts of banks and other BSP-supervised financial institutions to improve their AML/CTPF frameworks.
