CA releases rules for AMLC inquiry into bank accounts
THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has released on Sunday its rule of procedure for the examination of deposit or investment accounts in financial institutions for suspected unlawful activity or money laundering.
The guidelines, approved by the Supreme Court (SC) on March 23 by then-Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, will implement Republic Act (RA) No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended, and will take effect on May 31.
According to the SC resolution on the rule of procedure, these guidelines will “complement the existing…rule of procedure in cases of civil forfeiture, asset preservation, and freezing of monetary instrument, property, or proceeds representing, involving, or relating to an unlawful activity or money laundering offense under RA 9160, as amended.”
These will apply to cases involving bank or nonbank financial institutions and their subsidiaries and affiliates.
The rule of procedure said the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), may file with the CA an application for inquiry into particular deposit or investment accounts, including related accounts “when it has been established that there is probable cause that (such accounts) are related to an unlawful activity or a money laundering offense under RA 9160.”
The CA shall decide on the application within 24 hours from receipt.
If approved, the inquiry order of the CA will indicate the particular deposit or investment account to be examined, along with the name of the account owners or holders.
The court order will also direct the concerned financial institution to allow the AMLC or its authorized personnel “full access to all information, documents, and objects relating to the subject deposit or investment account within a specific period of time.”
The CA will also forbid the bank or nonbank entity and any of its directors, officers, and employees “from disclosing, divulging, or communicating, directly or indirectly, or in any manner, to the owners or holders of accounts inquired into, or to any other person, the fact that said accounts are being inquired into or examined, with warning that any violation thereof constitutes contempt of court.”
Lastly, the bank inquiry order will direct the OSG to inform the court of civil forfeiture proceedings related to the case within five calendar days from its filing.
The CA said a bank inquiry order will be valid for 120 days from its receipt by the AMLC, which may be extended to up to 120 more calendar days.
RA No. 11521, which amended the AMLA, was signed on Jan. 29, only two days before the Feb. 1 deadline given by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to the country to address gaps in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.
The law allowed the AMLC to enforce targeted financial sanctions such as asset freezing in relation to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their financing. Its provisions also expanded covered persons to include real estate developers and brokers, as well as Philippine offshore gaming operators
On Jan. 31, the AMLC published the updated implementing rules and regulations of the amended law as well as RA No. 11479 or the Anti-Terror Act of 2020.
The Philippines now has to prove its revised anti-money laundering and terrorism financing measures boosted safeguards and ensure it does not go back to the “gray list” of the FATF, AMLC Executive Director Mel Georgie B. Racela earlier said. — B.A.D. Añago
