The Philippines has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list after more than three years, following significant progress in strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) framework, the global financial watchdog said.
The FATF, which monitors global efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, said the Philippines had successfully implemented the necessary reforms outlined in its action plan since being placed under increased monitoring in June 2021.
“The plenary agreed to take the Philippines off the grey list in recognition of the completion of their action plan,” FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo said in a briefing. “Amongst other efforts and results, the Philippines is now actively combating the risk of dirty money flowing through casinos in the country.”
The removal from the grey list signals that the Philippines has addressed strategic deficiencies, including ensuring effective risk-based supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions, implementing tighter controls on casino junkets, and enforcing new registration requirements for money transfer services.
The country has also improved law enforcement access to beneficial ownership data and taken steps to enhance financial intelligence utilization.
Other fulfilled reforms include increasing money laundering investigations and prosecutions, cracking down on terrorism financing cases, ensuring compliance among non-profit organizations while avoiding disruptions to legitimate activities, strengthening targeted financial sanctions frameworks, and applying stricter cross-border measures at international sea and airports.
Madrazo said the FATF conducted an onsite visit to verify these improvements and emphasized that the Philippines must sustain its progress.
The country will continue working with the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on money laundering and begin preparations for its next FATF assessment, scheduled for 2027.
“The Philippines has the high-level commitment to sustain these measures, and this was reiterated in our meetings this week,” Madrazo said. “The upcoming assessment will be an opportunity to verify that the measures remain in place.”
The Philippines’ exit from the grey list is expected to improve investor confidence and ease compliance costs for financial institutions operating in the country.
