PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said Thursday that he has appointed the Philippine gaming regulator’s new President and COO, Atty. Wilma Eisma, to “personally oversee” its efforts to ensure the country is removed from a global anti-money laundering grey list as soon as possible.
Speaking at the G2E Asia conference in Macau, Tengco expressed confidence in the agency’s enhanced efforts to remove itself from the list, having been initially added by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June 2021 – in part due to risks associated with casino junkets.
Eisma, he added, would “personally oversee our AML supervision efforts” following her promotion to a senior PAGCOR role in April.
According to Tengco, PAGCOR’s efforts to exit the FATF’s AML grey list have included submitting regular progress reports to the Asia-Pacific Joint Group (APJG) containing updates on action plans on identified deficiencies as they relate to the gaming industry.
“Currently, the Philippines casino industry is involved in two action plan items: risk-based supervision and junket operational upheaval,” he explained.
“Risk-based supervision needs to demonstrate implementation measures to mitigate risks associated with casino junket operations. Last January during the face-to-face meeting with the APJG in Thailand, our eighth progress report was discussed. The assessors rated our progress for both KPIs as ‘party addressed’, meaning out technical compliance was resolved. However, it is still necessary to show how effective the implemented measures are.”
The measures, Tengco said, had so far resulted in a 50% decrease in Internet Gaming Licensee applications, a reduced sample of junket operator applications and a 137% increase in Suspicious Transaction Reports made by junket operators.
“These measures will help facilitate our early exclusion from the FATF grey list,” Tengco said.
The Philippine government has previously stated its intention to fulfil all requirements for removal by the end of 2024, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr late last year issuing a Memorandum Circular directing 44 government agencies, including PAGCOR, to “review and assess” their requirements and take all necessary actions to ensure the country exits the “grey list” within the stated timeframe.
FATF said in a recent update that the Philippines has “taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by identifying and investigating [terrorism financing] cases.”
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