Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 9194)
A 'covered transaction' is a transaction in cash or other equivalent monetary instrument involving a total amount in excess of Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) within one (1) banking day.
Suspicious transactions are transactions with covered institutions, regardless of the amounts involved, where any of the following exist: no underlying legal or trade obligation, improper client identification, amounts not commensurate with client capacity, structuring to avoid reporting, deviation from client profile, relation to unlawful activity, or similar circumstances.
Examples include kidnapping for ransom (Art. 267 Revised Penal Code), illegal drug offenses (RA 9165), graft and corruption (RA 3019), plunder (RA 7080), robbery and extortion (Revised Penal Code), illegal gambling (PD 1602), piracy, qualified theft, swindling, smuggling, fraudulent practices, hijacking, destructive arson, and offenses punishable in other countries.
Money laundering is the crime where proceeds of an unlawful activity are transacted to make them appear to originate from legitimate sources. It is committed by anyone knowing the monetary instrument or property involves such proceeds and transacts, facilitates, or fails to disclose as required.
The AMLC is composed of the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as chairman, the Commissioner of the Insurance Commission, and the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission as members.
The AMLC receives covered and suspicious transaction reports, issues orders to determine the true identity of owners of monetary instruments, institutes civil forfeiture, files complaints for prosecution, investigates money laundering, applies for freezing orders, implements counter-measures, responds to foreign requests, develops educational programs, enlists government agencies' assistance, and imposes administrative sanctions.
Covered institutions must report all covered and suspicious transactions within five (5) working days from the occurrence, unless a supervising authority prescribes a longer period not exceeding ten (10) working days.
They are not deemed to have violated banking secrecy laws or similar laws by reporting and are prohibited from disclosing the fact of such report or its contents. They are protected from administrative, criminal, or civil liabilities when reporting in good faith.
Any person who maliciously reports false information regarding money laundering transactions faces 6 months to 4 years imprisonment and fines between Php100,000 and Php500,000. Corporations' responsible officers can be penalized, and public officials may face disqualification from office.
Persons convicted face imprisonment from 3 to 8 years and fines from Php500,000 to Php1,000,000. Media personnel responsible for published breaches are also liable under the Act.
The Court of Appeals may, upon ex parte application by the AMLC and probable cause determination, issue a freeze order effective immediately for 20 days, extendable by the court.
No court order is required for deposits involving unlawful activities under Sections 3(i)(1), (2), and (12) such as kidnapping for ransom, illegal drugs offenses, and terrorist-related destructive arson and murder.
The Act takes effect 15 days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two national newspapers of general circulation.