PH finally exits dirty money ‘grey list’

MANILA, Philippines – After more than three years, the Philippines has finally exited the “grey list” of Paris-based watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which commended the country for plugging all the holes in its defenses against dirty money and terrorism financing.

After its February meeting, the FATF decided to remove the Philippines from its list of jurisdictions that are under increased monitoring.

This marked the culmination of the Philippines’ efforts to tackle all 18 deficiencies in its anti-money laundering(AML) and counter terrorism financing (CTF) systems that had dragged the country back to the grey list in June 2021.

“The Philippines should continue to work with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering of which it is a member to sustain its improvements in its AML/CFT system,” the FATF said.

“The FATF encourages the Philippines to continue its work in ensuring that its CFT measures are appropriately applied, particularly the identification and prosecution of TF (terrorism financing) cases, and are neither discouraging nor disrupting legitimate NPO (non-profit organizations) activity,” it added.