Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I. Money Laundering
Definition
1. Any person knowing that any monetary instrument or property relates to the
proceeds of any unlawful activity, transacts it.
2. Any person knowing that any monetary instrument or property involves the
proceeds of any unlawful activity, performs or fails to perform any act as a
result of which he facilitates its transaction.
Institutions Covered
1. Banks, non-banks, quasi-banks, trust entities and all other institutions and
their subsidiaries and affiliates supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Securities dealers, brokers, salesmen, investment houses, and other similar entities
managing securities or rendering services as investment agent, advisor or
consultant.
Covered Transactions
Any transaction in cash or other equivalent monetary instrument involving a total of
more than P500,000.00 in one banking day is covered. [Section 3(B)]
Suspicious Transactions
The amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of
the client.
It may be perceived that the transaction is structured to avoid being the subject of
reporting requirements.
Any circumstance which deviates from the profile of the client or the client's past
transactions with the covered institution.
Unlawful Activity
A. Composition
C. Important Functions
To institute civil forfeiture proceedings and all other remedial proceedings through
the Office of the Solicitor General.
To cause the filing of complaints with the Department of Justice or the Ombudsman
for the prosecution of money laundering offense.
To apply before the Court of Appeals ex parte for the freezing of any monetary
instrument or property alleged to be proceeds of any unlawful activity.
To take action on any request from foreign states for assistance in their anti-money
laundering operations.
To impose administrative sanctions for violation of laws, rules, order and resolutions
(Section 7)
III. Prevention of Money Laundering
A. Covered institutions shall establish and record the true identity of their clients based
on official documents.
Anonymous accounts, accounts under fictitious names, and all other similar
accounts are prohibited.
B. All records of all transactions of covered institutions shall be maintained for five
years from their dates.
C. Covered institutions shall report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council all covered
and suspicious transactions within five working days from their occurrence, unless
the Supervising Authority prescribes a longer period not exceeding ten working
days.
Reporting covered transactions are not covered by Republic Act 1405, Republic Act
6426, Republic Act 8741 and other similar laws.
The Court of Appeals, upon application ex parte by the Anti-Money Laundering Council,
and after determination that probable cause exists that any monetary instrument or
property is related to an unlawful acting may issue a freeze order for twenty days unless
extended by it. (Section 10)
The Anti-Money Laundering Council may inquire into any deposit or investment with any
bank or financial institution upon order of a court in case of violation of this Act if there is
probable cause that it is related to an unlawful activity or a money laundering activity, but
no court order is required in cases involving unlawful activities in Section 3 (i) (1) (2) and
(12), i.e. kidnapping for ransom, violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act,
and hijacking, destructive arson and murder.
To ensure compliance with this Act, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may inquire at any
deposit or investment with any bank or financial institution in the course of a periodic or
special examination (Section 11).