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Anti Money Laundering Act
Anti Money Laundering Act
Anti Money Laundering Act
Imposes requirements on customer identification, record keeping and reporting of covered and suspicious transactions
Provides for bank inquiry and freeze ex parte petition/seizure/forfeiture/recovery of dirty money/property
Money Laundering is a crime whereby the proceeds of an unlawful activity as defined in the AMLA are transacted or attempted to be transacted to make them appear to have
originated from legitimate sources.
Money Laundering Offenses and Penalties
Knowingly transacting or attempting to transact any monetary instrument/property which represents, involves or relates to the proceeds of an unlawful activity.
Penalty is 7 to 14 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than P3M but not more than twice the value of the monetary instrument/property.
Knowingly performing or failing to perform an act in relation to any monetary instrument/property involving the proceeds of any unlawful
activity as a result of which he facilitated the offense of money laundering. Penalty is 4 to 7 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than P1.5M but not more than P3M.
Knowingly failing to disclose and file with the AMLC any monetary instrument/property required to be disclosed and filed.
Penalty is 6 months to 4 years imprisonment or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000, or both.
Unlawful Activity is the offense which generates dirty money or property. It is commonly called the predicate crime.
It refers to any act or omission or series or combination thereof involving or having direct relation to the following:
Plunder
Piracy
Qualified theft
Swindling
Smuggling
Hijacking; destructive arson; and murder, including those perpetrated by terrorists against non-combatant persons and similar targets
Fraudulent practices and other violations under the Securities Regulation Code of 2000
Felonies or offenses of a similar nature that are punishable under the penal laws of other countries.
Terrorism financing and organizing or directing others to commit terrorism financing (R.A. 10168).
Attempt/conspiracy to commit terrorism financing and organizing or directing others to commit terrorism financing (R.A. 10168).
Other Offenses/Penalties
Failure to keep records is committed by any responsible official or employee of a covered institution who fails to maintain and
safely store all records of all transactions of said institution, including closed accounts, for five (5) years from the date of the transaction/closure of the account.
Penalty is 6 months to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000, or both.
Malicious reporting is committed by any person who, with malice or in bad faith, reports/files a completely unwarranted
or false information relative to money laundering transaction against any person.
Penalty is 6 months to 4 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000, at the discretion of the court.
The offender is not entitled to avail the benefits of the Probation Law.
If the offender is a corporation, association, partnership or any juridical person, the penalty shall be imposed upon the responsible officers,
as the case may be, who participated in, or allowed by their gross negligence, the commission of the crime.
If the offender is a juridical person, the court may suspend or revoke its license.
If the offender is an alien, he shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed,
be deported without further proceedings after serving the penalties prescribed.
If the offender is a public official or employee, he shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed,
suffer perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification from office, as the case may be.
Breach of confidentiality. When reporting covered or suspicious transactions to the AMLC, covered institutions
and their officers/employees are prohibited from communicating directly or indirectly, in any manner or by any means, to any person/entity/media,
the fact that such report was made, the contents thereof, or any other information in relation thereto. In case of violation thereof,
the concerned official and employee of the covered institution shall be criminally liable.
Neither may such reporting be published or aired in any manner or form by the mass media, electronic mail or other similar devices.
In case of a breach of confidentiality published or reported by media, the responsible reporter, writer, president, publisher, manager
and editor-in-chief shall also be held criminally liable. Penalty is 3 to 8 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than P500,000 but not more than P1M.
Covered Institutions
Covered Institutions are those mandated by the AMLA to submit covered and suspicious transaction reports to the AMLC.
These are:
Banks and all other entities, including their subsidiaries and affiliates, supervised and regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Insurance companies, pre-need companies and all other institutions supervised or regulated by the Insurance Commission
Securities dealers and other entities supervised or regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission
Covered & Suspicous Transactions
Covered transactions are single transactions in cash or other equivalent monetary instrument involving a total amount in
excess of Five Hundred Thousand (P500,000) Pesos within one (1) banking day
Suspicious transactions are transactions with covered institutions, regardless of the amounts involved, where any of the following circumstances exists:
there is no underlying legal/trade obligation, purpose or economic justification; the client is not properly identified;
the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of the client;
the transaction is structured to avoid being the subject of reporting requirements under the AMLA;