SUJECT MATTER: ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING ACT (AMLA)-RA 9160, as amended

LESSON MODULES:
1. Definition of terms:
a. Money Laundering
b. Covered Persons
c. Covered Transactions
d. Suspicious Transactions
e. Unlawful Activity
2. Record Keeping and Reporting Requirements
3. Power of Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC)

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
1. To state what is money laundering.
2. To define some terms associated with the AMLA.
3. To know the record keeping and reporting requirements of AMLA.
4. To know the power of the AMLC.
5. To apply and appreciate the AMLA.
LESSON PROPER:
I. MONEY LAUNDERING
Money laundering is committed by:
A. Any person who, knowing that any monetary instrument or property represents,
involves, or relates to the proceeds of any unlawful activity:
1. transacts said monetary instrument or property;
2. converts, transfers, disposes of, moves, acquires, possesses or uses said
monetary instrument or property;
3. conceals or disguises the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement
or ownership of or rights with respect to said monetary instrument or property;
4. attempts or conspires to commit money laundering offenses referred to in (1),
(2), or (3) above;
 5. aids, abets, assists in, or counsels the commission of the money laundering
offenses referred to in (1), (2), or (3) above; and
6. performs or fails to perform any act as a result of which he facilitates the offense
of money laundering referred to in (1), (2), or (3) above.
B. Any covered person who, knowing that a covered or suspicious transaction is required
under the AMLA to be reported to the AMLC, fails to do so. (Rule 4, RIRR, RA9160, as
amended)
Note: money laundering through the financial system
1. Placement – involves initial placement or introduction of the illegal funds into the
financial system. Financial institutions are usually used at this point.
2. Layering – involves a series of financial transactions during which the dirty money is
passed through a series of procedures, putting layer upon layer of persons and financial
activities into the laundering process. Ex. wire transfers, use of shell corporations, etc.
3. Integration – the money is once again made available to the criminal with the
occupational and geographic origin obscured or concealed. The laundered funds are now
integrated back into the legitimate economy through the purchase of properties,
businesses and other investments.
II. DEFINITION OF TERMS
A. “Anti-Money Laundering Act” (AMLA) refers to Republic Act No. 9160, as amended by
Republic Act Nos. 9194, 10167 and 10365.
B. “Anti-Money Laundering Council” (AMLC) refers to the financial intelligence unit of the
Republic of the Philippines which is the government agency tasked to implement the
AMLA.
C. “Supervising Authority” refers to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Insurance Commission (IC), or the relevant
regulatory bodies of the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions
enumerated under Rule 3.E.4, or other government agencies designated by Law.
D. “Person” refers to any natural or juridical person.
E. “Covered Persons” refers to the following:
1. Persons supervised or regulated by BSP, such as:
a. Banks;
b. Non-banks;
c. Quasi-banks;
d. Trust entities;
 e. Pawnshops;
f. Non-stock savings and loan associations;
g. Electronic money issuers; and
h. All other persons and their subsidiaries and affiliates supervised or regulated by
the BSP.
For purposes of this RIRR, foreign exchange dealers, money changers, and remittance
and transfer companies are covered persons under the supervision of the BSP.
2. Persons supervised or regulated by IC, such as:
a. Insurance companies;
b. Pre-need companies;
c. Insurance agents;
d. Insurance brokers;
e. Professional reinsurers;
f. Reinsurance brokers;
g. Holding companies;
h. Holding company systems;
i. Mutual benefit associations; and
j. All other persons and their subsidiaries and affiliates supervised or regulated by
the IC.
3. Persons supervised or regulated by SEC, such as:
a. Securities dealers, brokers, salesmen, investment houses, and other similar
persons managing securities or rendering services, such as investment agents, advisors,
or consultants.
b. mutual funds or open-end investment companies, close-end investment
companies or issuers, and other similar entities;
c. other entities, administering or otherwise dealing in commodities, or financial
derivatives based thereon, valuable objects, cash substitutes, and other similar monetary
instruments or properties, supervised or regulated by the SEC.
4. The following Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs):
a. Jewelry dealers, dealers in precious metals, and dealers in precious stones.
“Dealer” refers to an individual or entity who buys and/or sells precious metals, precious
stones, and/or jewelry in the course of its business activities. The purchases or sales of
precious metals, precious stones, and/or jewelry, as referred to herein, exclude those
carried out for, connected with, or for the purpose of extracting precious metals or
precious stones from a mine, or cutting or polishing precious stones.
“Jewelry” refers to finished goods deriving fifty percent (50%) or more of their value from
jewels, precious metals or precious stones constituting, forming part of, or attached to
said finished goods.
“Jewel” refers to organic substances that have a market-recognized gem level of quality,
beauty and rarity, such as pearl, amber and coral.
“Precious metals” refers to gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium,
and osmium at a level of purity of five hundred (500) parts per one thousand (1,000),
singly or in any combination, and alloys of precious metals, solders, and plating
chemicals, such as rhodium and palladium plating solutions, potassium gold cyanide
containing at least sixty-eight and three-tenths percent (68.3%) gold, potassium silver
cyanide containing at least sixty-eight percent (68%) silver and silver cyanide in salt
solution containing at least fifty-four percent (54%) silver.
“Precious stones” refers to all gems and stones used in jewelry making, such as
gemstones, jewels, and those substances that have market-recognized gem level of
quality, beauty, and rarity, such as diamond, corundum (including rubies and sapphires),
beryl (including emeralds and aquamarines), chrysoberyl, spinel, topaz, zircon,
tourmaline, garnet, crystalline and cryptocrystalline quartz, olivine peridot, tanzanite,
jadeite jade, nephrite jade, spodumene, feldspar, turquoise, lapis lazuli, opal and pearl.
b. 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.
c. Persons, including lawyers and accountants, who provide any of the following services:
i. Managing of client money, securities or other assets;
ii. Management of bank, savings, securities or other assets;
 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, lawyers and accountants who are: (1) authorized to
practice their profession in the Philippines; and (2) engaged as independent legal or
accounting professionals, in relation to information concerning their clients, or where
disclosure of information would compromise client confidences or the attorney-client
relationship, are not covered persons.
“Independent legal or accounting professional” are lawyers and accountants working in a
private firm or as a sole practitioner who by way of business provides purely legal, notarial
or accounting services to their clients.
F. “Transaction” refers to any act establishing any right or obligation, or giving rise to any
contractual or legal relationship between the parties thereto. It also includes any
movement of funds by any means with a covered person.
G. “Covered transaction” refers to:
1. A transaction in cash or other equivalent monetary instrument exceeding Five
Hundred Thousand pesos (Php500,000.00)
2. A transaction exceeding One Million pesos (Php1,000,000.00) in cases of
jewelry dealers, dealers in precious metals and dealers in precious stones.
H. “Suspicious Transaction” refers to a transaction, regardless of amount, where any of
the following circumstances exists:
1. there is no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification;
2. the client is not properly identified;
3. the amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity
of the client;
4. taking into account all known circumstances, it may be perceived that the client’s
transaction is structured in order to avoid being the subject of reporting requirements
under the AMLA;
5. any circumstance relating to the transaction which is observed to deviate from
the profile of the client and/or the client’s past transactions with the covered person;
6. the transaction is in any way related to an unlawful activity or any money
laundering activity or offense that is about to be committed, is being or has been
committed; or
 7. any transaction that is similar, analogous or identical to any of the foregoing.
T. “Unlawful Activity” refers to any act or omission, or series or combination thereof,
involving or having direct relation, to the following:
1. “Kidnapping for Ransom” under Article 267 of Act No. 3815, otherwise known
as the Revised Penal Code, as amended;
2. Sections 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,13, 14, 15 and 16 of Republic Act No. 9165,
otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002”;
3. Section 3 paragraphs b, c, e, g, h and i of Republic Act No. 3019, as amended,
otherwise known as the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act”;
4. “Plunder” under Republic Act No. 7080, as amended;
5. “Robbery” and “Extortion” under Articles 294, 295, 296, 299, 300, 301 and 302
of the Revised Penal Code, as amended;
6. “Jueteng” and “Masiao” punished as illegal gambling under Presidential Decree
No. 1602;
7. “Piracy on the High Seas” under the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and
Presidential Decree No. 532:
8. “Qualified Theft” under Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended;
9. “Swindling” under Article 315 and “Other Forms of Swindling” under Article 316
of the Revised Penal Code, as amended:
10. “Smuggling” under Republic Act No. 455, and Republic Act No. 1937, as
amended, otherwise known as the “Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines”;
11. Violations under Republic Act No. 8792, otherwise known as the “Electronic
Commerce Act of 2000”;
12. “Hijacking” and other violations under Republic Act No. 6235, otherwise known
as the “Anti-Hijacking Law”; “Destructive Arson”; and “Murder”, as defined under the
Revised Penal Code, as amended;
13. “Terrorism” and “Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism” as defined and penalized
under Sections 3 and 4 of Republic Act No. 9372;
14. “Financing of Terrorism” under Section 4 and offenses punishable under
Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Republic Act No. 10168, otherwise known as the “Terrorism
Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012”;
15. “Bribery” under Articles 210, 211 and 211-A of the Revised Penal Code, as
amended, and “Corruption of Public Officers” under Article 212 of the Revised Penal
Code, as amended;
 16. “Frauds and Illegal Exactions and Transactions” under Articles 213, 214, 215
and 216 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended;
17. “Malversation of Public Funds and Property” under Articles 217 and 222 of the
Revised Penal Code, as amended;
18. “Forgeries” and “Counterfeiting” under Articles 163, 166, 167, 168, 169 and
176 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended;
19. Violations of Sections 4 to 6 of Republic Act No. 9208, otherwise known as the
“Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended”;
20. Violations of Sections 78 to 79 of Chapter IV of Presidential Decree No. 705,
otherwise known as the “Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, as amended”;
21. Violations of Sections 86 to 106 of Chapter IV of Republic Act No. 8550,
otherwise known as the “Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998”;
22. Violations of Sections 101 to 107, and 110 of Republic Act No. 7942, otherwise
known as the “Philippine Mining Act of 1995”;
23. Violations of Section 27(c), (e), (f), (g) and (i) of Republic Act No. 9147,
otherwise known as the “Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act”;
24. Violations of Section 7(b) of Republic Act No. 9072, otherwise known as the
“National Caves and Cave Resources Management Protection Act”;
25. Violation of Republic Act No. 6539, otherwise known as the “Anti-Carnapping
Act of 2002, as amended”;
26. Violation of Sections 1, 3, and 5 of Presidential Decree No.1866, as amended,
otherwise known as the decree “Codifying the Laws on Illegal/Unlawful Possession,
Manufacture, Dealing In, Acquisition or Disposition of Firearms, Ammunition or
Explosives”;
27. Violation of Presidential Decree No. 1612, otherwise known as the “Anti-
Fencing Law”;
28. Violation of Section 6 of Republic Act No. 8042, otherwise known as the
“Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, as amended”;
29. Violation of Republic Act No. 8293, otherwise known as the “Intellectual
Property Code of the Philippines, as amended”;
30. Violation of Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9995, otherwise known as the “Anti-
Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009”;
31. Violation of Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9775, otherwise known as the “Anti-
Child Pornography Act of 2009”;
 32. Violations of Sections 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 (c), (d) and (e), 11, 12 and 14 of Republic
Act No. 7610, otherwise known as the “Special Protection of Children Against Abuse,
Exploitation and Discrimination”;
33. Fraudulent practices and other violations under Republic Act No. 8799,
otherwise known as the “Securities Regulation Code of 2000”;
34. Felonies or offenses of a nature similar to the aforementioned unlawful
activities that are punishable under the penal laws of other countries.
In determining whether or not a felony or offense punishable under the penal laws of other
countries is “of a similar nature”, as to constitute an unlawful activity under the AMLA, the
nomenclature of said felony or offense need not be identical to any of the unlawful
activities listed above. ( Rule III, RIRR, RA 9160, as amended)

III. PREVENTIVE MEASURES

RECORD KEEPING
Covered persons shall maintain and safely store for five (5) years from the dates of
transactions all records of customer identification and transaction documents.
1. Retention of Records Where the Account is the Subject of a Case. - If a case
has been filed in court involving the account, records must be retained and safely kept
beyond the five (5)-year period, until it is officially confirmed by the AMLC Secretariat that
the case has been resolved, decided or terminated with finality.
2 Closed Accounts. - Covered persons shall maintain and safely store for at least
five (5) years from the dates the accounts were closed, all records of customer
identification and transaction documents.
3. Form of Records. - Covered persons shall retain all records as originals or in
such forms as are admissible in court. Covered persons shall, likewise, keep the
electronic copies of all covered and suspicious transaction reports for, at least, five (5)
years from the dates of submission to the AMLC.
For low risk customers, it is sufficient that covered persons shall maintain and store, in
whatever form, a record of customer information and transactions. (Rule IX, RIRR, RA
9160, as amended)
TRANSACTION REPORTING
Covered persons shall report to the AMLC all covered transactions and suspicious
transactions within five (5) working days, unless the AMLC prescribes a different period
not exceeding fifteen (15) working days, from the occurrence thereof.
For suspicious transactions, “occurrence” refers to the date of determination of the
suspicious nature of the transaction, which determination should be made not exceeding
ten (10) calendar days from the date of transaction. However, if the transaction is in any
way related to, or the person transacting is involved in or connected to, an unlawful activity
or money laundering offense, the 10-day period for determination shall be reckoned from
the date the covered person knew or should have known the suspicious transaction
indicator.
Should a transaction be determined to be both a covered and a suspicious transaction,
the same shall be reported as a suspicious transaction.
1. Substance and Form of Reports. - Covered persons shall ensure the accuracy
and completeness of covered transaction report and suspicious transaction report, which
shall be filed in the forms prescribed by the AMLC and shall be submitted in a secured
manner to the AMLC in electronic form.
2. Confidentiality of Reporting. - When reporting covered or suspicious
transactions, covered persons, and their officers and employees, are prohibited from
communicating,
directly or indirectly, in any manner or by any means, to any person or entity, or the media,
the fact that a covered or suspicious transaction has been or is about to be reported, the
contents of the report, or any other information in relation thereto.
Any information about such reporting shall not be published or aired, in any manner or
form, by the mass media, or through electronic mail, or other similar devices. In case of
violation thereof, the concerned officer, and employee, of the covered person and media
shall be held criminally liable.
3. Safe Harbor Provision. - No administrative, criminal or civil proceedings shall lie
against any person for having made a covered transaction or suspicious transaction
report in the regular performance of his duties and in good faith, whether or not such
reporting results in any criminal prosecution under the AMLA or any other Philippine law.
4. Enrollment with the AMLC’s Reporting System. – All covered persons shall
register with the AMLC’s electronic reporting system within ninety (90) days from the
effectivity of this RIRR. (Rule IX, RIRR, RA 9160, as amended)
IV. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COUNCIL
The AMLC is composed of the Governor of the BSP as Chairperson, and the
Commissioner of the IC and the Chairperson of the SEC, as Members.
A. Unanimous Decision. - The AMLC shall act unanimously in the discharge of its
functions. In case of incapacity, absence, or disability of any member, the officer duly
designated or authorized to discharge the functions of the Governor of the BSP, the
Commissioner of the IC, and the Chairperson of the SEC, as the case may be, shall act
in his stead in the AMLC.
B. Functions. - The functions of the AMLC are:
 1. to require and receive covered or suspicious transaction reports from covered
persons;
2. to issue orders addressed to the appropriate Supervising Authority or the
covered person to determine the true identity of the owner of any monetary instrument or
property subject of a covered or suspicious transaction report, or request for assistance
from a foreign State, or believed by the AMLC, on the basis of substantial evidence, to
be, in whole or in part, wherever located, representing, involving, or related to, directly or
indirectly, in any manner or by any means, the proceeds of any unlawful activity;
3. to institute civil forfeiture proceedings and all other remedial proceedings
through the Office of the Solicitor General;
4. to file complaints with the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman
for the prosecution of money laundering offenses and other violations under the AMLA;
5. to investigate suspicious transactions and covered transactions deemed
suspicious after investigation by the AMLC, money laundering activities and other
violations of the AMLA;
6. to file with the Court of Appeals, ex parte, through the Office of the Solicitor
General: a. a petition for the freezing of any monetary instrument or property that is in any
way related to an unlawful activity; or b. an application for authority to inquire into or
examine any particular deposit or investment, including related accounts, with any
banking institution or non-bank financial institution.
7. to formulate and implement such measures as may be necessary and justified
under the AMLA to counteract money laundering.
8. to receive and take action in respect of any request from foreign states for
assistance in their own anti-money laundering operations as provided in the AMLA.
9. to develop educational programs, including awareness campaign on the
pernicious effects, the methods and techniques used, and the viable means of preventing
money laundering and the effective ways of prosecuting and punishing offenders;
10. to enlist the assistance of any branch, department, bureau, office, agency or
instrumentality of the government, including government-owned and -controlled
corporations, in undertaking any and all anti-money laundering operations, which may
include the use of its personnel, facilities and resources for the more resolute prevention,
detection and investigation of money laundering offenses and prosecution of offenders.
11. to impose administrative sanctions for the violation of laws, rules, regulations,
orders, and resolutions issued pursuant thereto.
12. to require the Land Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds to
submit to the AMLC, reports on all real estate transactions involving an amount in excess
of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php500,000.00) within fifteen (15) days from the date
of registration of the transaction, in a form to be prescribed by the AMLC. The AMLC may
also require the Land Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds to submit
copies of relevant documents of all real estate transactions. (Rule VII, RIRR, RA 9160,
as amended)

SOURCE:
2016 REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS (RIRR) OF REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 9160, AS AMENDED
Republic Act No. 9160, also known as the “Anti Money Laundering Act of 2001, As
Amended”,