The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it welcomes a global dirty money watchdog’s assessment that the Philippines has made significant strides to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
In a statement on Tuesday, the BSP noted that the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) said the Philippines has made progress on its anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) initiatives.
“At its October 2024 plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that the Philippines has substantially completed its action plan and warrants an on-site assessment to verify that the implementation of AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation in the future,” the FATF said on Oct. 25.
This moves the Philippines closer to exiting the so-called “gray list” countries linked to dirty money.
The central bank said an onsite assessment will verify if measures against money laundering and terror financing have begun and are being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment is in place to sustain implementation of reforms. After verification, the Philippines will be removed from the FATF grey list, the BSP said.
“A grey list exit will benefit Filipinos, especially Overseas Filipino Workers, through faster and cheaper remittances and other cross-border transactions,” the central bank said.
The Philippines was included in the FATF grey list in June 2021 after the global watchdog found “strategic deficiencies” in how the country handles the entry and exit of suspected illegal funds.
The country was given until January 2023 to make the necessary reforms to exit the gray list. In January this year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr made it a priority for the Philippines to exit the FATF gray list, noting that the deadline had already lapsed by a whole year.
The BSP said it remains committed to reinforcing the integrity of the Philippine financial system.
