The Philippines still faces a money laundering risk even after the recent ban on the offshore POGO industry came into effect this month, with the ability of illegal operators to pose instead as call or data centers potentially placing the nation’s efforts to exit the global AML grey list at threat, according to Moody’s analyst Choon Hong Chua.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Chua said Philippine authorities could not afford to rest on their laurels post-POGO with many illicit operators seen trying to maintain their existence across alternative sectors.
“There are still inherent risks, and it’s not just the underground online gaming,” Chua, who is head of the ratings agency’s financial crime practice group for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, told Bloomberg. “We’ve seen examples in the past when some of the scam centers were masquerading as call centers and data centers.”
Chua noted that it was “challenging” to fully eradicate those engaged in highly profitable illegal businesses, adding that it was important the Philippines maintained disciplined oversight of more than just the financial sector.
“Across the region and in fact across the world, traditionally the corporate organizations are not as regulated as the financial institutions,” he said. “A lot of these organizations are the ones serving some of the high-risk clients.”
His comments come after global anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF), said in October that the Philippines had “substantially completed” an 18-point action plan, leaving it within touching distance of exiting the grey list.
Among the key reforms implemented have been demonstrating that supervisors are using AML/CFT (anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism) controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets. Gaming regulator PAGCOR was one of 44 government agencies directed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr last October to take necessary actions in order to ensure the Philippines satisfied the FATF’s directions and exited the grey list.
“This is the final step toward the country’s removal from the grey list,” the Philippines’ AML Council said at the time.
POGOs have also been seen as a major AML threat although the industry was officially banned as of 1 January 2025 by way of a Presidential decree.
