Member Article

Last February 15, 2013, the President signed into law Republic Act No. 10365 or the “Act Further Strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law.” True to its name, the third amending law to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AMLA”) gave it more teeth and strengthened the government’s ability to prevent and prosecute money laundering. The following discusses the new amendments to the AMLA.

Sections 1, 2 and 3

The first section of the amending law added the following to the list of covered persons under the AMLA. The amendment reads:

“Section 3(a). ‘Covered persons’, natural or juridical, refer to:

…

(4) jewelry dealers in precious metals, who, as a business, trade in precious metals, for transactions in excess of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00);

(5) jewelry dealers in precious stones, who, as a business, trade in precious stones, for transactions in excess of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00);

(6) company service providers which, as a business, provide any of the following services to third parties:

(i) acting as a formation agent of juridical persons;

(ii) acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a director or corporate secretary of a company, a partner of a partnership, or a similar position in relation to other juridical persons;

(iii) providing a registered office, business address or accommodation, correspondence or administrative address for a company, a partnership or any other legal person or arrangement; and

(iv) acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a nominee shareholder for another person; and

(7) persons who provide any of the following services:

(i) managing of client money, securities or other assets;

(ii) management of bank, savings or securities accounts;

(iii) organization of contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies; and

(iv) creation, operation or management of juridical persons or arrangements, and buying and selling business entities.

Notwithstanding the foregoing,...