Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 9160)
The official short title is the "Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001."
The policy is to protect and preserve the integrity and confidentiality of bank accounts and ensure that the Philippines is not used as a money laundering site for proceeds of any unlawful activity, and to cooperate in transnational investigations and prosecutions of money laundering activities.
Covered institutions include banks, non-banks, quasi-banks, trust entities supervised by BSP; insurance companies supervised by the Insurance Commission; and entities supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission such as securities dealers, brokers, investment houses, mutual funds, money changers, remittance companies, and others dealing in currencies or financial derivatives.
A covered transaction involves a total amount in excess of Four million Philippine pesos (Php4,000,000.00) or its equivalent in foreign currency within five consecutive banking days, unless it is consistent with the business or financial capacity of the client or has legal or economic justification.
Money laundering is the crime whereby proceeds of an unlawful activity are transacted to make them appear as if they originated from legitimate sources.
The regional trial courts have jurisdiction, but cases involving public officers or private persons conspiring with them fall under the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan.
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.
Penalties include imprisonment from seven to fourteen years and fines of at least Php3,000,000 but not more than twice the value of the property involved for persons convicted under Section 4(a). Lesser penalties apply to other sections of Section 4.
The AMLC may issue a freeze order on accounts suspected to be related to unlawful activity for up to fifteen days, extendable by court order, with specific procedures for notification and depositor explanation.
Covered institutions must report all covered transactions to the AMLC within five working days from occurrence, maintain customer identification and transaction records for five years, and not disclose reports to third parties.