The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) will still require the reporting of distribution of dividends and interest on investments as part of its mandate to look into suspicious transactions but the reporting for these can now be deferred based on a new resolution, Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president Hans Sicat said.
Sicat said AMLC issued Resolution 48, series of 2016, which amended the earlier AMLC Resolution 10 series of 2013.
The new resolution included dividends and interests on investments among “no or low risk” transactions, the reporting of which may be deferred, provided that the principal investment was previously reported.
The AMLC resolution was signed by AMLC Chairman and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando M. Tetangco Jr., AMLC member and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairwoman Teresita J. Herbosa, and AMLC member and Insurance Commission Commissioner Emmanuel M. Dooc.
The earlier resolution did not included dividends and interests on investments among the no or low risk transactions which were mostly non-cash settlements such as transactions among banks and the BSP, transactions among banks operating in the Philippines, internal operating expenses of banks, transactions among banks and government agencies, transactions involving transfer of funds from one deposit account to another deposit account of the same person within the same banks, and roll-overs of placements of time deposits, and loan interest and principal payments debited against borrower’s deposit account maintained with the lending bank.
The same resolution indicated BSP-supervised institutions, through the Association of Bank Compliance Officers (ABCOMP) should “determine and report to the AMLC the specific transactions falling within the purview of the aforesaid BSP-identified categories of “non-cash or no and low risk” covered transactions.
The AMLC, in issuing the new resolution, said that, “whereas the Council has found meritorious the deferment of reporting of transactions falling under seven of the nine BSP-identified non-cash, no or low risk covered transaction categories.”
The AMLC issued the resolution in 2006 to include business transactions among those covered by its review due to its concern “on the enormous amount of covered transaction reports (CTRs) that are not related to cash” which it said seriously hampered the overall suspicious transaction reporting (STR) regime in the Philippines.
It said reducing the number of CTRs would allow the AMLC to more effectively analyze suspicious transactions. RIZA LOZADA