The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has delivered a deadline to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). They must register with the AMLC’s system by the 16th of March if they wish to be able to continue to offer their services to players.
This ruling has come following changes to the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 within the Philippines. Though the act covers many different groups of people, casino and gambling operators will be affected by them.
As stated by the new amendments: “These persons and entities are required to report covered and suspicious transactions to the AMLC within the period prescribed and for the threshold amount fixed by the law.
“Failure to register would mean failure to electronically file covered and suspicious transaction reports with the AMLC, which is a money laundering offence.”
Violations by companies with assets over PHP50bn (approx. £0.73bn) will face the maximum fine of PHP5m (approx. £73,000).
Pressure for operators all over the world has been mounting in regards to anti-money laundering. In the past few months, several well-known brands have had licenses placed under review or even removed due to a failure to comply with anti-money laundering legislation.
The POGOs have now been asked to comply with these changes to ensure that they too are not headed towards a similar outcome. We will hopefully see them quickly register with the AMLC and comply with the new amendments soon.
