Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said Thursday that the early passage of the proposed Bank Deposits Secrecy Bill will be beneficial to the country’s efforts to be delisted from the “dirty money” global watchdog’s “grey list”.
“We believe that the early passage of the Bank Deposits Secrecy Bill could help the Philippines’ compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, particularly on the ability of the competent authorities such as BSP to directly access information held by banks,” said Diokno.
“Consequently, it will help the Philippines exit from the ‘grey list’,” he also emphasized, adding that reforms in deposit secrecy “will support the country’s efforts to combat domestic and global tax evasion, money laundering, and other financial crimes.”
The FATF has put the Philippines back on its list of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies or the “grey list” last June 25. Being on the watch list means these jurisdictions are under increased monitoring because they have been found to have strategic deficiencies in efforts to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
As a grey-listed country, the government is committed to resolve as quickly as possible all of the FATF-identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes.
The last time the Philippines was on the “grey list” was in 2013. It was even on the FATF “black list” in 2000. At the time, the government has no dirty money-fighting law since the Anti Money Laundering Act (AMLA) was approved only in 2001.
The Philippines only got out of any FATF listing in 2017 and it was considered FATF-compliant until June of this year when it again landed on the “grey list” for anti-money laundering deficiencies.
In the meantime, Diokno has been aggressively pushing for the quick approval and resolution of bills that will amend the BSP-restricting Secrecy of Bank Deposits Act or Republic Act No. 1405. The Bank Deposits Secrecy Bill is already in the list of President Duterte’s legislative priorities for the 18th Congress.
Presently, in various stages of deliberations, there are a number of pending proposed measures such as House Bill (HB) No. 8991 which has been approved on first reading at the House of Representatives last February 26, 2021. The House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries have three bills they will hear. The Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, in the meantime, is handling six proposed bills.
Diokno said earlier that the FATF has already taken note of these efforts to pass the amendments to the bank secrecy law.
He initially said that the proposed changes which has been recognized by the FATF, will have a less significant impact to de-listing efforts but it will help in communicating the intent to resolve issues that are hampering the government – specifically the BSP – from going after suspicious accounts.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is exempted from the restrictions of the RA 1405. Under the new AMLA, the AMLC also has an unimpeded access to bank account information.
“We are confident that the Philippines will exit the grey list by January 2023,” Diokno said in July.
So far, the Philippines has addressed the technical deficiencies with the anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing or AML/CTF laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and amendments to the AMLA.
The Philippines will submit progress reports to the FATF three times a year, in January, May and September.