InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – The central bank said it has tapped a global network of financial intelligence units (FIUs) 459 times last year in line with efforts to crack down on money laundering.
“This is a concrete demonstration of international cooperation among FIUs. I have been informed that our cooperation with other FIUs has resulted in the successful filing of many charges, the freezing of bank deposits and criminally-tainted assets, as well as civil forfeiture judgments,” said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. in a speech delivered during the Tuesday meeting of the Egmont Group of FIUs in Manila.
He said the Anti-Money Laundering Council, which the BSP heads, has signed 30 agreements to exchange information between and among FIUs since the Philippines joined the Egmont Group on June 29, 2005.
The BSP chief said another four more agreements would be signed in the coming days.
“Parallel to these efforts, we are actively pursuing legislative amendments to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Act and to criminalize terrorist financing as a stand-alone offense,” Tetangco said, adding that President Benigno Aquino III has certified these measures as urgent.
The Egmont Group was named after a building in Brussels, Belgium, where the original group met in 1995 and started a global cooperative effort against money laundering.
