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IMF wants tax evasion
included in AMLA
THE Philippines should add tax
evasion amongthe crimes covered
by its law against money launder-
ing, according to the lnternation-
al Monetary Fund (MF).
"Tax evasion should be added
to the list ofpredicate crimes,,, the
IMF said ih its report dated Feb. 6.
Customer due diligence for
politically exposed persons and
risk-based supervision of the
gaming sector should also be in-
tensified, it added.
Quirino Rep. Junie E. Cua said
a technical working group of the
House of Representatives Com-
mittee on Banks, which he heads,
has been tweating the Anti-Mon-
ey Laundering Act (AMLA).
"It is one of the priorities of
the government to enable us to
achieve grade A rating, so that,s
very important" he said in an in-
terview on Tuesday.
Mr Cua filed House Bill 6174
to include tax crimes and viola-
tion of the Strategic Trade Man-
agementAct as predicate ofienses
to moneylaundering.
The bill also wants to include
real-estate agents as covered per-
sons thatwill be monitored by the
A.uti-Money Laundering Council
(AMLC).
The congressman said his
committee would address IMF
concerns about tax evasion, sai'
ing itis "one ofthe areds where we
need to improve."
Mr. Cua said there is a long
list of crimes that fall under tax
evasion, some serious and some
not so serioua
il?
",,,,,
"We're looking into that as Dirty lloney,
well. But we need to be very care- Jion S1/ I
'fuI urith these things because we
do not want also abuses to be The countqy's larv against money
committed,,,he said. laundering was passed ir Septem-
ber 2OOl ard \Mas first amended in
The lawmaker said his com-
2003 to address concerns about
mittee was "fast-tracking" the
measure "without sacrificing the high threshold lercl for covered
ttrorough and exhaustive consul- transactions, the covemge of insti-
tutions and bank secrecy.
tations with stakeholders.,,
These changes are needed so Lawmakers lowered the thresh-
old for covered transactions to
the country could avoid being
grayJisted bythe Financial Action P50o,000 from P4 million- em-
Task Force @AIF), Mr Cua said. polvere{ tle central bank to exam-
irre deposits or investments with
"This is about the internation-
al effort to curb the laundering of any banking institutions without
money resultina from terrorism, a court order during a periodic or
the funding or fihancing terr6r- special examination, and allowed
ism," he added. the law to be applied reboactivel).
He also said theywouldlookat Congress again amended the
law in 2012 by allowing the issu-
the offshore gaming industry to
ensure it does not become a dirty ance of a frieze otder and em-
money haven. powered the AMLC to conduct
"We don't want it to become a bank inquiry within 24 hours
a venue for money launderilrg as after filing a court action.
The FATF upgraded the coun-
well, and v/e r /ant to be very cau-
tious about tiese Philippine Off- a ,,dark
try to a "gray list" frorn
shore Gaming Operators,. he said. $a/' list as a result, just a notch
Dirty none!, S1/4 away from being taken out of a
watcNist of noncompliant nations.
The following year, lawmalers
again changed the law by increas-
ing the number of illegal activities
relatedto moneylaundering to 34
tiom 14.
These included human traf-
ficking, bribery, counteIfeiting,
ftaud and other illegal exactions,
forgery, malversatidn, various
enviro[mentai crimes, and ter-
rorism and its fifiancing,
't, +l€wuilg t/etji{v
The law needs to be improved
further so tie Philippines wont be
included in the FAIF list of areas
with serious deficiencies in combat-
ing terrorist financing the 1MF said.
Meanwhile, Senator Francis N
Pangilina[ filed a bill repealing a
65-year-old law that guarantees
deposit secrecy.
His Senate Bill634 orthe pro-
posed Deposits Disclosure Act
will allow scrutiny of all deposits
for possible ta-\ evasion, money
laundering- and corruption,
among other financial crimes.
This will cover all deposits,
regardless of eurrency denomi-
nation, issued bybanks and non-
bank flnancial institutions.
"It is necessary and timell' to lift
all pertinent laws on the secrecy
of ban} deposits to ensure rightfijl
declaration of taxes and efficient
revenue collection " Mr. Pangilinan
said in the bill's expJanatory note.
"Through this measure, the
govehrnent will be able to ef-
fectively combat domestic and
global tax evasion, money laun-
dering and otherfinancial crimes,
and co$uption," he added.
Once the bill becomes law,
balks must disclose and report de-
posit account information. Viola-
torswillbe fined at least P2OO,OOO
or jailed for at least three years or
both. - censhen L. Espedido
and Charnaine A- Tadalan