THE country may be removed from a global dirty-money list as early as next week, a potential boost to the South-East Asian nation following a reform push to counter money laundering and terrorist-financing risks.
An on-site visit by a team from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force last month noted significant progress, according to people familiar with the matter. That means the Philippines could come off the watchdog’s so-called grey list on the final day of the FATF plenary on Feb 21, said the people, who requested anonymity as the deliberations are private.
“The signals are good, so I’d say our chances are better than 50%,” central bank Governor Eli Remolona, who chairs the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering Council, said in a text message yesterday.
A removal from the grey list would make it easier and cheaper for Filipinos working overseas to send money home – a key driver of domestic consumption in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies – and would facilitate other cross-border transactions.
A significant majority of the FATF’s members must vote that the Philippines has made sufficient progress for it to be taken off the list. Just a few votes to the contrary – some members have more sway than others – could result in it remaining on the list, the people said.
Members include individual countries like the US and China as well as regional bodies such as the European Commission.
The Philippines landed on the gray list in June 2021 after the FATF cited deficiencies in the country’s efforts to combat illicit finance. Since then, the government has worked to boost the nation’s supervision of risk-based anti-money laundering as well as countering terrorist and proliferation financing. — Bloomberg
