Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. on Wednesday considered as welcome news the European Commission’s (EC) decision to remove the Philippines from its list of high-risk countries in terms of financial crime.
“That’s certainly good news. But the EU (European Union) Parliament will still need to confirm the EC decision,” he said.
This, after the Belgium-based EC, in a press release issued June 10, said eight countries, including the Philippines, were delisted but several countries were added.
The move, it said, was made “to protect the EU financial system.”
It said the latest decision “takes into account the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and in particular its list of ‘Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring’”.
“As a founding member of FATF, the Commission is closely involved in monitoring the progress of the listed jurisdictions, helping them to fully implement their respective action plans agreed with FATF. Alignment with FATF is important for upholding the EU´s commitment to promoting and implementing global standards,” it added.
Last Feb. 21, FATF, in a statement, released an updated list of high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions and announced the Philippines’ removal from the list because of “significant progress in improving its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism) regime.”
It said the Philippine government showed effective risk-based supervision of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, demonstrated supervisors were using AML/CFT controls to address risks with casino junkets, implemented new registration requirements for money or value transfer services, and applied sanctions to unregistered and illegal remittance operations, among others. (PNA)
