3 weeks ago
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Richmond Mercurio - The Philippine Star
February 28, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to roll out more reforms to fight money laundering and terrorist financing to help keep the Philippines out of the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said the Philippines must sustain the reforms that fueled the country’s recent successful exit from the global financial crimes watchdog’s gray list.
Aquino said the commission would continue to identify emerging risks and gaps in the country’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework and promptly implement the necessary measures, especially in the next two years.
“The next two years will be crucial, as the Philippines prepares for another mutual evaluation, where the country’s AML/CFT standards will be assessed for their compliance with global standards,” Aquino, currently the longest serving member of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), said.
“Failure to address identified risks – such as gaps in beneficial ownership transparency, enforcement actions, or emerging financial threats – could increase our risk of going back to the gray list. Therefore, continued vigilance, policy enhancements, and effective enforcement remain critical to ensuring that the Philippines stays off the gray list and maintains its position as a reliable and competitive financial hub in the region,” he said.
The Philippines will be undergoing another assessment in 2027.
To enhance the country’s AML/CFT framework, Aquino said the SEC would continue to coordinate with other government agencies and competent authorities.
This year, the commission intends to launch the Hierarchical Applicable Relations and Beneficial Ownership Registry (Project HARBOR), a registry of beneficial ownership information that will be easily accessible to other partner agencies through the execution of data sharing agreements.
Project HARBOR’s features will include automated data validation, configurable access levels for authorized users and analytical tools for identifying complex ownership structures.
The system will be integrated with the SEC’s existing online company registration system, the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Companies.
With Project HARBOR in place, the SEC will be able to streamline beneficial ownership disclosures, promote regulatory transparency, and enhance compliance with global AML/CFT standards.
“Project HARBOR will modernize how we manage beneficial ownership data, reducing manual interventions and facilitating a secure, efficient disclosure process for corporations, thereby addressing the concern on the accuracy of beneficial ownership information submitted to the SEC,” Aquino said.
The SEC is also looking at the rise of virtual currencies and other digital assets and how they can be used by illicit actors to perpetuate financial crimes.
To mitigate risks, the commission said it is drafting new rules on crypto-asset service providers (CASP), which aims to enhance its oversight and supervision of businesses that involve the offering and trading as well as other activities of innovative financial products.
The SEC has released the draft guidelines on CASP for public comment and will consider suggestions and recommendations of the industry in coming up with the final guidelines.
“While we celebrate this milestone of finally exiting the gray list, our work does not stop here. The SEC reiterates its commitment to implementing the necessary measures in compliance with the evolving global AML/CFT standards, to ensure that the Philippines being on the FATF gray list will finally become a thing of the past,” Aquino said.
The SEC expects the Philippines to become an even more attractive destination for business and investment following the country’s exit in the gray list.
Among the sectors expected to benefit with the development are the banking, fintech, real estate, infrastructure and business process outsourcing.
“This would be a positive catalyst for investors in terms of foreign direct investments here in the country. And of course, as a result of that, they will lease infrastructure, engage in construction, hire our local people and spur more spending,” SEC Anti-Money Laundering Division supervising director Oliver Leonardo said.
“So hopefully that would gain ground and gather steam not only in terms of FDI, but including passive investments coming from big foreign funds that they would like to consider the Philippines as an investment destination,” he said.
