I refer to my letter of 27
September 2001 advising you, among other
issues, that in case any significant legislation
is enacted by the Philippines by 30 September
2001 to address the money laundering concerns
identified by the Financial Action Task Force
on Money Laundering (FATF), the application
of the proposed further counter-measures against
the Philippines as set out in the specific advisory
attached to the above letter in respect of transactions
with the Philippines would be suspended.
On 29 September 2001, the FATF
received a joint letter
from the Secretary of the Department of Finance
and Governor of Central Bank of the Philippines,
confirming that the President of the Philippines
has signed into law "An Act Defining the
Crime of Money Laundering Providing Penalties
Therefore and for Other Purposes" (otherwise
known as the "Anti-Money Laundering Act
of 2001") on 29 September 2001. Pending
an assessment by the FATF on whether the new
law has addressed all the identified money laundering
concerns,you are requested to suspend the application
of the proposed counter-measures. A decision
as to whether the Philippines should be subject
to counter-measures will be made in January/February
2002 at the latest if not before. I will keep
you informed of any further development on this
subject.
Notwithstanding the suspension
of the application of the proposed counter-measures,
the Philippines is still included in the FATF's
list of non-cooperative countries and territories
(NCCTs). You are therefore advised to continue
to give special attention to businesses and transactions
with persons,including companies and financial
institutions, in the Philippines, in accordance
with Recommendation 21 of the FATF Forty Recommendations
Note.
Where applicable, the supplementary list of suspicious
activity indicators attached to my letter of
27 September 2001 should be used to help
identify suspicious transactions which are reportable
to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU)for
prompt investigation in order to ensure compliance
with the Guidance Note on Prevention of Money
Laundering issued by the Insurance Authority.
In addition, you should raise
the awareness of your staff and the general public
on NCCTs including the Philippines through various
means which include, for example, (i) spreading
more widely information on NCCTs to business relationships
with the non-bank financial sector, business sector,intermediaries
such as lawyers and accountants and so on where
practicable; (ii)highlighting the subject of NCCTs
in money laundering related forums or presentations
where appropriate; (iii) drawing the attention
of institutions' staff to the websites of the
Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau, the
JFIU and the financial regulators where the background
and latest developments of NCCTs are published;
and (iv) including the subject of NCCTs in staff
training programmes in respect of money laundering.
Taking this opportunity, I also
wish to draw your attention to the Executive Order
on Freezing Terrorist Assets issued by the US President
on 24 September 2001. The Order applies to financial
assets of, and transactions with, 27 entities specified
in the Order. Such entities are believed to be terrorist
organizations, terrorist leaders, or to have links
with such persons. The text of the Executive Order
and the list of the 27 entities are available on
the website of the Office of Foreign Assets Control
under the US Treasury (www.ustreas.gov/ofac).
You are advised to review carefully
the list of 27 entities attached to the Executive
Order to check whether you have had, or currently
have, accounts, transactions or dealings with such
entities.
If suspicious accounts, transactions
or dealings come to light, you should promptly notify
the JFIU in order to ensure that you fulfil the
obligationsunder section 25A of the Organized and
Serious Crimes Ordinance in the usual way.
Should you have any enquiries
in this regard, please contact Mr. William Hsieh
at 2867 4529 or Ms. Carol Hui at 2867 2551.
