The Republic Act 1405 or the Law on Secrecy of Bank Deposits is an act prohibiting the

disclosure of or inquiry into deposits with any banking institutions. The bank secrecy laws

in the Philippines are said to be one of the strictest in the world which made it difficult in

the country to investigate corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering and easy for the

criminals to commit these crimes. This is the reason why the Rizal Commercial Banking

Corporation (RCBC) money laundering happened and still an ongoing case.

In the anti-money laundering laws of the Philippines, it doesn’t cover financial transactions

in casinos which is an area where money laundering is normally done. It is also happening

in real estate, non-profit organizations, and jewelry.

To prevent illegal acts, the government should actively implement and amend the anti-

money laundering laws and regulations together with controlling the bank internally. There

are penalties imposed in for money laundering offenses like imprisonment for 7 to 14

years and a fine of not less than Php 3,000,000. The penalties are not just for natural

persons but also for juridical persons. Their license will be suspended or revoked by the

court. These penalties are not enough to scare the people to commit this crime which the

government should put more weight into it. It should be millions or billions of pesos.

The senate should also leave the Department of Justice to investigate the employees and

just focus on and be serious in implementing laws to strengthen and prevent illegal acts.

It is not their job to investigate in such activities. Also, the senate is just covering up the

bank and stating that it is an injured party from an employee who was making her own

money.
The cybersecurity of banks here in the Philippines should be improved to avoid

cybercrime. With modern advancements, crimes like money laundering is also advancing

which is a responsibility for the banks to strengthen it.

Scandals like this should be taken seriously by the government and find a solution to this

as soon as possible because if these scandals will be lessen, this will help raise the

Philippines.

References:

http://www.bsp.gov.ph/regulations/laws_aml.asp

https://www.quora.com/How-can-we-technically-improve-the-security-of-a-bank

http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2016/05/03/what-is-bank-secrecy-law.html