The Philippine government is taking a significant step against offshore gaming by cracking down on all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) by December 31.The...
AMLC issues registration deadline to POGOs
The AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) has provided a deadline to the POGOs, or the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators. The POGOs need to register by the deadline of March 16th, if they would like to keep providing their services to players in the country.
The Philippines has made several modifications to the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, with this specific rule being part of the recent changes. This act covers multiple groups of people, however, casino operators will mainly be affected by the changes.
The new amendments mention:
These persons and entities are required to report covered and suspicious transactions to the AMLC within the period prescribed and for the threshold amount fixed by the law. Failure to register would mean failure to electronically file covered and suspicious transaction reports with the AMLC, which is a money laundering offence.
If any companies with assets valued at more than PHP50bn (about £0.73bn) commit any violations, they will be handed a fine of approximately PHP5m (£73,000).
Money laundering has been a prevalent issue in the gambling scene all over the world, and operators have been facing extreme pressure concerning anti-money laundering measures. Many popular brands have had their licences revoked or reviewed during the past several months because of their failure to obey the anti-money laundering laws.
The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators have been told to obey the newly-altered laws and legislation to make sure that they do not put themselves at risk of getting their licences taken away or reviewed.
After deciding to ban all POGO operations, the president of the Republic of the Philippines decided not to support the transformation of the ban into a permanent law.
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