Dec05.2012 B
Dec05.2012 B
Dec05.2012 B
5, 2012
NR # 2944B
The authors noted that the country is a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), which is a regionally focused international organization consisting of forty-one (41) members and a number of international and regional observers including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Asian Development Bank and World Bank. The APG, they added, is an associate member of the FATF and all APG members commit to effectively implement the FATFs international standards for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, referred to as the 40+9 Recommendations. FATF was established in 1989 by G-7 nations. The FATF is an international governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (RA 9160), as amended by RA 9194 was enacted following the FATFs blacklisting of the Philippines in June 2000. To be blacklisted means that the Philippines is perceived to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. The bill, the authors further stated, addresses the noted deficiencies in the countrys legal framework with regard to anti-money laundering, by making the Philippines fully compliant with the international standards set forth not only by the FATF, but also directives laid down under the 1988 UN Convention Against Elicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (the Vienna Convention), the 2001 UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention), the 2003 UN Convention Against Corruption (the Merida Convention), and other international standards in combating money laundering. (30) dpt