Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sec 3.
Whenever the Solicitor General shall
be informed of such unclaimed
balances, he shall commence an action
or actions in the name of the People of
the Republic of the Philippines in the
Court of First Instance of the province
or city where the bank, building and
loan association or trust corporation is
located.
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
ACT
a) Salient features of AMLA
o Criminalizes money laundering
o Creates a Financial Intelligence
Unit (FIU)
o Imposes requirements on
customer identification, record-
keeping and reporting of
covered and suspicious
transactions.
o Relaxes strict bank deposit
secrecy laws
o Provides for freezing/ seizure/
forfeiture recovery of dirty
money/ property
o Provides for international
cooperation
b) Declared policies
To protect and preserve the integrity
and confidentiality of bank accounts
and to ensure that the Philippines shall
not be used as a money laundering
site for the proceeds of any unlawful
activity. Consistent with its foreign
policy, the State shall extend
cooperation in transnational
investigations and prosecutions of
persons involved in money laundering
activities wherever committed.
c) Covered Transactions
Covered transaction (or threshold
transaction) is a transaction in
cash or other equivalent
monetary instrument involving a
total amount in excess of five
hundred thousand pesos (P500,
000) within one banking/business rendering services as
day. investment agent, advisor, or
Suspicious transactions are consultant,
mutual funds, close-end
transactions with covered
investment companies,
institutions, regardless of the common trust funds, pre-need
amount involved, where any of companies and other similar
the following circumstances exist: persons,
a. There is no underlying legal or other entities administering or
trade obligation, purpose or otherwise dealing in currency,
economic justification; commodities or financial
b. The client is not properly derivatives based thereon,
identified; valuable objects, cash
c. The amount involved is not substitutes and other similar
commensurate with the business monetary instruments or
or financial capacity of the client; property supervised or
d. Taking into account all known regulated by Securities and
circumstances, it may be Exchange Commission.
perceived that the clients d. Jewelry dealers in precious
transaction is structured in order
metals, who trades in precious
to avoid being the subject of
reporting requirements under the metals/stones, for transactions
AMLA in excess of P1,000,000
e. Any circumstance relating to the e. Company service providers
transaction which is observed to which, as a business, provide
deviate from the profile of the any of the following services to
client and/or clients past third parties:
transactions with the covered Acting as a formation agent
institution; of juridical persons
f. The transaction is in any way Acting as a director or
related to an unlawful activity or corporate secretary of a
offense under AMLA, as company, a partner of a
amended, that is about to be, is partnership, or a similar
being or has been committed; or position in relation to other
g. Any transaction that is similar or juridical persons
analogous to any of the Providing a registered office,
foregoing. business address or
accommodation,
d) Covered institutions correspondence or
Covered persons, natural or juridical, administrative address for a
refer to: company, a partnership or
a. Banks, quasi-banks, trust any other legal person or
entities, foreign exchange arrangement; and
dealers, pawnshops, money Acting as a nominee
changers, remittance and other shareholder for another
similar entities and all other person; and
persons and their subsidiaries f. Persons who provide any of the
and affiliates supervised or following services:
Managing of client money,
regulated by the BSP;
securities or other assets
b. Insurance companies, pre-need Management of bank,
companies and all other savings or securities accounts
persons supervised or regulated
by the Insurance Commission; Organization of contributions
and for the creation, operation or
c. the following: management of companies
securities dealers, brokers, Creation, operation or
salesmen, investment houses management of juridical
and other similar entities persons or arrangements, and
managing securities or buying and selling business
entities. names, and all other similar
accounts shall be absolutely
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the prohibited. The BSP may
term covered persons shall conduct annual testing for the
exclude lawyers and accountants purpose of determining the
acting as independent legal existence and true identity of the
professionals in relation to owners of such accounts.
information concerning their clients or
where disclosure of information would Prohibition against opening of
compromise client confidences or the Accounts without Face-to- face
attorney-client relationship. Contact: No new accounts shall
be opened and created without
e) Obligations of covered face-to-face contact and full
institutions compliance with the
Prevention of Money Laundering: requirements.
CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION:
Covered institutions shall establish and
RECORD KEEPING: All records of all
record the true identity of its clients
transactions of covered institutions
based on official documents. They shall
shall be maintained and safely stored
maintain a system of verifying the true
for (5) years from the date of
identity of their clients and, in case of
transactions. Covered institutions shall
corporate clients, require a system of
prepare and maintain documentation,
verifying their legal existence and
as to enable the AMLC, and/or the
organizational structure, as well as the
courts to establish an audit trail for
authority and identification of all
money laundering.
persons purporting to act on their
behalf.
Trustee, Nominee and Agent Existing and New Accounts - All
Accounts: When dealing with records of existing and new
customers who are acting as accounts and of new
trustee, nominee, agent or in any transactions shall be
capacity for and on behalf of maintained and safely stored
another, covered institutions shall for five (5) years from October
verify and record the true and full 17,2001 or from the dates of
identity of the person(s) on whose the accounts or transactions,
behalf a transaction is being whichever is later.
conducted. In case a covered
institution has doubts as to Closed Accounts - With respect
whether such persons are being to closed accounts, the records
used as dummies in circumvention on customer identification,
of existing laws, it shall account files and business
immediately make the necessary correspondence shall be
inquiries to verify the status of the preserved and safely stored for
business relationship between the at least five (5) years from the
parties. dates when they were closed.
h) Jurisdiction
The regional trial courts shall have
f) Money laundering crime jurisdiction to try all cases on money
Money laundering is a crime whereby laundering. Those committed by public
the proceeds of an unlawful activity officers and private persons who are in
are transacted; thereby making them conspiracy with such public officers
shall be under the jurisdiction of the cause exists that any deposit or similar
Sandiganbayan. account is in any way related to an
unlawful activity, the AMLC may issue
i) Penalties and other a freeze order, which shall be effective
consequences immediately, on the account for a
Penalties for the Crime of Money period not exceeding 20 days.
Laundering.
a. imprisonment from 7-14 years o Notice to the depositor that his
and a fine of not less than account has been frozen shall
P3,000,000 but not more than be issued simultaneously with
twice the value of the monetary the issuance of the freeze order.
instrument or property involved The depositor shall have (72)
in the offense, shall be imposed hours upon receipt of the notice
upon a person convicted under to explain why the freeze order
Section 4(a) of this Act. should be lifted.
b. imprisonment from 4-7 years o The AMLC has (72) hours to
and a fine of P1,500,000- dispose of the depositor's
P3,000,000, shall be imposed explanation. If it fails to act
upon a person convicted under within (72) hours from receipt
Section 4(b) of this Act. of the depositors explanation,
c. imprisonment from 6 months- 4 the freeze order shall
years or a fine of P100,000- automatically be dissolved.
P500,000, or both, shall be
imposed on a person convicted The 20 day freeze order of the AMLC
under Section 4(c) of this may be extended upon order of the
Act. court. No court shall issue a temporary
restraining order or writ of injunction
Others: against any freeze order issued by the
Penalties for Failure to Keep AMLC except the Court of Appeals or
Records. the Supreme Court.
The penalty of imprisonment from six
(6) months to one (1) year or a fine of k) Examination of accounts
not less than P100,000- P 500,000, or AMLC may inquire into or examine any
both, shall be imposed on a person particular deposit or investment with
convicted under Section 9(b). any banking institution or non- bank
financial institution upon order of any
Malicious Reporting. competent court in cases of violation
The penalty of imprisonment from six of this Act when it has been
(6) months to (4) year or a fine of not established that there is probable
less than P100,000- P 500,000, or cause that the deposits or investments
both,at the discretion of the court: involved are in any way
Provided, that the offender is not
entitled to the benefits of the Probation
Law.
Breach of Confidentiality.
The punishment of imprisonment
ranging from (3) to (8) years and a fine
of not less than P 500,000-P 1,000,000
shall be imposed on a person
convicted for a violation under Section
9 (c).
j) Freezing of accounts
Upon determination that probable
o enjoy FISCAL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE AUTONOMY,
while being govt owned
b) BSPs primary objective and
roles
Primary Objectives:
o To maintain price stability
conducive to a balanced and
sustainable growth of the
economy;
o To promote and maintain the
monetary stability and
convertibility of the peso;
o To provide policy directions in
areas of money, banking and
credit, with supervision over
operations of banks and with
regulatory powers over
operations of finance
companies, and non-bank
financial institutions performing
quasi-banking functions.
Representation with
international monetary fund