Anti-Money Laudering Act (AMLA)
Anti-Money Laudering Act (AMLA)
Anti-Money Laudering Act (AMLA)
(AMLA)
Republic Act No. 9160, Otherwise Known as the “Anti-Money Laundering
Act of 2001”, As Amended by Republic Act No. 9194 and Republic Act
No.10168, otherwise known as the Terrorism Financing Prevention and
Suppression Act of 2012 and Republic Act No. 10365, An Act Further
Strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law
AMLA
Money Laundering
is a crime whereby the proceeds of an
unlawful activity are transacted, thereby
making them appear to have originated
from legitimate sources.
AMLA
Objectives of AMLA
To protect and preserve the integrity of the Philippine financial
system, including the confidentiality of bank accounts.
To ensure that the Philippines shall not be used as a money
laundering site for the proceeds of any unlawful activity.
To extend cooperation, consistent with Philippines’ foreign
policy, in transnational investigations and prosecutions of
persons involved in money laundering activities wherever
committed.
AMLA
Salient Features
Criminalizes money laundering
Creates a financial intelligence unit
3. the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of
the client;
4. taking into account all known circumstances, it may be perceived that the client’s
transaction is structured in order to avoid being the subject of reporting requirements
under the AMLA;
5. any circumstance relating to the transaction which is observed to deviate from the
profile of the client and/or the client’s past transactions with the covered person;
6. the transaction is in any way related to an unlawful activity or any money laundering
activity or offense that is about to be committed, is being or has been committed; or
7. any transaction that is similar, analogous or identical to any of the foregoing.
AMLA
"Proceeds" refers to an amount derived or realized from an
unlawful activity. It includes:
(1) All material results, profits, effects and any amount realized
from any unlawful activity;
(2) All monetary, financial or economic means, devices,
documents, papers or things used in or having any relation to
any unlawful activity; and
(3) All moneys, expenditures, payments, disbursements, costs,
outlays, charges, accounts, refunds and other similar items for
the financing, operations, and maintenance of any unlawful
activity
AMLA
. “Client/Customer” refers to any person who keeps an account,
or otherwise transacts business with a covered person. It
includes the following:
1. any person or entity on whose behalf an account is
maintained or a transaction is conducted, as well as the
beneficiary of said transactions;
2. beneficiary of a trust, an investment fund or a pension
fund;
3. a company or person whose assets are managed by an
asset manager;
4. a grantor of a trust; and
5. any insurance policy holder, whether actual or prospective.
AMLA
3 stages in money laundering
1. Placement
2. Layering
3. Integration.
AMLA
Methods and Stages of Money Laundering
Placement –This is the movement of cash from its source. On
occasion the source can be easily disguised or misrepresented.
This is followed by placing it into circulation through financial
institutions, casinos, shops, bureau de change and other
businesses, both local and abroad. The process of placement
can be carried out through many processes including:
Currency Smuggling – This is the physical illegal movement of
currency and monetary instruments out of a country. The
various methods of transport do not leave a discernible audit
trail
FATF 1996-1997 Report on Money Laundering Typologies.
AMLA
Placement
Bank Complicity – This is when a financial institution, such as
banks, is owned or controlled by unscrupulous individuals
suspected of conniving with drug dealers and other organised
crime groups. This makes the process easy for launderers. The
complete liberalisation of the financial sector without adequate
checks also provides leeway for laundering.
Currency Exchanges – In a number of transitional economies
the liberalisation of foreign exchange markets provides room
for currency movements and as such laundering schemes can
benefit from such policies.
Securities Brokers – Brokers can facilitate the process of
money laundering through structuring large deposits of cash in
a way that disguises the original source of the funds.
AMLA
Placement
Blending of Funds – The best place to hide cash is with a lot of
other cash. Therefore, financial institutions may be vehicles for
laundering. The alternative is to use the money from illicit
activities to set up front companies. This enables the funds
from illicit activities to be obscured in legal transactions.
Asset Purchase – The purchase of assets with cash is a classic
money laundering method. The major purpose is to change the
form of the proceeds from conspicuous bulk cash to some
equally valuable but less conspicuous form.
AMLA
Layering – The purpose of this stage is to make it more difficult
to detect and uncover a laundering activity. It is meant to make
the trailing of illegal proceeds difficult for the law enforcement
agencies. The known methods are:
Cash converted into Monetary Instruments – Once the
placement is successful within the financial system by way of a
bank or financial institution, the proceeds can then be
converted into monetary instruments. This involves the use of
banker’s drafts and money orders.
Material assets bought with cash then sold – Assets that are
bought through illicit funds can be resold locally or abroad and
in such a case the assets become more difficult to trace and
thus seize.
AMLA
Integration – This is the movement of previously laundered money
into the economy mainly through the banking system and thus such
monies appear to be normal business earnings. This is dissimilar to
layering, for in the integration process detection and identification of
laundered funds is provided through informants. The known methods
used are:
Property Dealing – The sale of property to integrate laundered money
back into the economy is a common practice amongst criminals. For
instance, many criminal groups use shell companies to buy property;
hence proceeds from the sale would be considered legitimate.
Front Companies and False Loans – Front companies that are
incorporated in countries with corporate secrecy laws, in which
criminals lend themselves their own laundered proceeds in an
apparently legitimate transaction.
AMLA
Integration
Foreign Bank Complicity – Money laundering using known
foreign banks represents a higher order of sophistication and
presents a very difficult target for law enforcement. The willing
assistance of the foreign banks is frequently protected against law
enforcement scrutiny. This is not only through criminals, but also
by banking laws and regulations of other sovereign countries.
False Import/Export Invoices – The use of false invoices by
import/export companies has proven to be a very effective way
of integrating illicit proceeds back into the economy. This
involves the overvaluation of entry documents to justify the
funds later deposited in domestic banks and/or the value of funds
received from exports.
AMLA
AMLA
. “Monetary Instrument” shall include, but is not limited to the following:
3. to institute civil forfeiture proceedings and all other remedial
proceedings through the Office of the Solicitor General;
AMLA
4. to file complaints with the Department of Justice or the Office of
the Ombudsman for the prosecution of money laundering offenses and
other violations under the AMLA;
5. to investigate suspicious transactions and covered transactions
deemed suspicious after investigation by the AMLC, money
laundering activities and other violations of the AMLA;
6. to file with the Court of Appeals, ex parte, through the Office of
the Solicitor General:
a. a petition for the freezing of any monetary instrument or property
that is in any way related to an unlawful activity; or
b. an application for authority to inquire into or examine any
particular deposit or investment, including related accounts, with any
banking institution or non-bank financial institution
AMLA
7. to formulate and implement such measures as may be
necessary and justified under the AMLA to counteract money
laundering.
8. to receive and take action in respect of any request from
foreign states for assistance in their own anti-money laundering
operations as provided in the AMLA.