BSP closes 2 more money changers

Bank regulators have revoked the licenses of two more money changers caught violating provisions of the country’s law against the traffic of dirty money.

In a press statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said its policymaking Monetary Board canceled the certificates of registration of Edzen Enterprises and World Wide Money Changer.

Both firms are sole proprietorships and had their permits as remittance agent and foreign exchange dealers and money changer canceled.

Edzen Enterprises is owned by Zenaida Artuz while World Wide Money Changer is owned by Elliot Artuz.

“The cancellation was due to significant violations of their deeds of undertaking, specifically on the commitment to strictly comply with the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla), as amended, and its revised implementing rules and regulations; and the minimum procedures on the sale and purchase of foreign currencies by money changers and foreign exchange dealers and the transactional requirements for large value payouts,” the BSP said.

Since 2016, the central bank has been canceling the licenses of several money changers for various violations of money-laundering rules, including know-your-customer rules.

The crackdown followed the $81-million Bangladesh Bank cyberheist where funds were stolen from the US bank accounts of the Bangladeshi central bank in 2016, and sent to the Philippine financial system through a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and exchanged into local currency through the Philrem money changer, which has since been shuttered. The money found its way out through the Solaire casino.