A Department of Justice (DOJ) official announced that the Philippines is on track to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, which monitors jurisdictions under increased scrutiny.
During Tuesday’s briefing at the 2024 National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights High-Level Meeting in Manila, DOJ Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes Andres expressed confidence. “We are very confident that when the FATF grey list matter is addressed this October, the Philippines will likely be removed from the grey list due to our performance in various areas, including intellectual property rights protection,” Andres said.
Nearly five years ago, the FATF, an international watchdog for money laundering and terrorist financing, placed the Philippines on its grey list. To secure delisting, the country needed to meet 18 committed outcomes.
We have already completed 15 of those 18 items, and we submitted our final report a month ago. We expect the FATF to make its decision in October
According to Andres, the remaining three areas of concern have also been resolved. The FATF previously acknowledged the Philippines’ significant progress in improving its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) systems. However, the organization stressed the need for further work on three strategic priorities: applying AML/CTF controls to casino junkets, enforcing cross-border currency controls at all major ports, and increasing terrorism financing prosecutions in line with risk.
With these areas now addressed, the Philippines anticipates a positive outcome when the FATF reviews its progress in October.