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POGO Ban: A step toward FATF Grey List exit?
A ban on offshore gaming, released on July 22, 2024, can help the Philippines to be excluded from the “grey list” of jurisdictions at risk for money laundering.
The Philippines has been on the global “grey list” for higher financial crime risk since June 2021.
The grey list and the notorious blacklist are published by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) once every four months. FATF provided the Philippines with 18 directives that need to be met before the nation can be removed from the list.
T. Raja Kumar, FATF president said at a press conference:
“The Philippines has actually taken action on 15 of the 18 action items that it needed to act on. The Philippines should quickly address the remaining three action items; demonstrating that supervisors are using anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets.”
Chester B. Cabalza, president of International Development and Security Corp. of Manila said:
“The Philippines may be relieved (of) the grey-list tag. That would open the market to more legal and moral entertainment investments for the inclusive growth of the country.”
Alex Magno, a political scientist, observed that even if the country is trying to leave the list with difficulty, he is still optimistic about FATF’s influence for good. If they will do what they promised this year, the Philippines could see themselves off the list by January next year.
Currently, Bulgaria, Cameroon, and Vietnam are all on the grey list while blacklisted are North Korea, Iran, and Myanma.
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