Casinos across the Philippines are now operating under the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) after President Rodrigo Duterte officially signed the new law late last week.
Republic Act 10927, which was released by Malacañang Palace on Wednesday, expanded the previous Republic Act 9160 law to cover casinos, online gaming operations and any other “business authorized by the appropriate government agency to engage in gaming operations.”
The law will require operators to report any transactions of Php5 million (US$98,200) or more to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, whose task it is to monitor financial transactions that may be deemed to be suspicious.
It also allows the Court of Appeals to issue a 20-day freeze order against any movement of money involved in a suspicious transaction or against a property itself. If deemed necessary, the freeze order can be extended to a maximum of six months following a summary hearing to determine the nature of any such transaction.
The move follows the theft of US$81 million from the Bank of Bangladesh in February 2016, with some of the money making its way to Manila casinos via junket operators, where gaps in the Philippines’ anti-money laundering regulations meant it was out of the reach of officials.
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