The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council has issued a statement saying that government agencies have “commitment” to helping “strengthen the country’s anti-money laundering and combatting financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime,” including “mitigation of risks in casino junkets”.

Tuesday’s update said this was “aligned with the goal of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr,” the country’s leader.

The announcement came just before international AML watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) started its fifth plenary meeting in Paris, France. The session runs from Wednesday to Friday inclusive.

An FATF release said among the agenda items would be “the progress made by some jurisdictions identified as presenting a risk to the global financial system”.

The Philippines remains on the FATF’s “grey list” of jurisdictions it says require increased monitoring regarding financial crime risk. The country was added to the “grey list” in June 2021.

In October, the FATF had urged that the Philippines “swiftly implement” its action plan to address existing “strategic deficiencies” concerning anti-money laundering and combatting financing of terrorism.

Tuesday’s update from that nation’s Anti-Money Laundering Council said a February 7 meeting of “supervisors, regulators, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies” had discussed such efforts.

“Through collaboration among the agencies, we are strengthening our resolve to address the remaining action plan items suggested by FATF and report the progress to the president,” said Matthew David, executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat, as cited in the circular.

The release added that “collaborative efforts taken by government agencies have resulted in increased compliance among designated non-financial businesses and professions, mitigation of risks in casino junkets, and a more robust beneficial ownership information database”.

It further stated: “The Philippines has also improved its implementation of cross-border currency declaration measures and has increased its AML/CFT investigation and prosecution.

“The private sector is likewise encouraged to further contribute to the shared goal by complying with relevant laws and regulations.”

The FATF said in its own release that delegates representing more than 200 of its members and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Bank, Interpol, and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, were to participate in FATF working group and plenary meetings in Paris during what is termed “FATF Week” that began on Monday.