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SOTTO PRESIDES THE LAST SESSION OF 2020: The President of the Senate, Vicente C. Sotto III, chairs the hybrid plenary session of the Senate, Wednesday, December 16, 2020. The Senate, which is holding its last plenary session of the year, continues its discussions on the Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1945, which aims to further strengthen the law against money laundering. (Albert Calvelo / Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines – The Senate passed proposed legislation on second reading that would strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) before Congress takes a month-long vacation break.
Senators passed Senate Wednedsay Bill No. 1945, which seeks to further amend the AMLA, which was enacted in 2001, in response to the findings of the mutual evaluation report (MER) that assesses the country’s compliance with the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task. Money Laundering Force.
The proposed measure seeks to improve the functions of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) by:
- Enhance their investigative powers through express powers of delegation, power to request a search warrant, and power to obtain information on the final beneficial owner
- Authorize it to implement specific financial sanctions on the financing of proliferation
- Authorize it to preserve, manage or dispose of assets subject to order of preservation of assets and forfeiture by sentence.
- Prohibit the issuance of precautionary measures against freezing orders and confiscation procedures under its jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the commission of tax crimes and the violation of the Strategic Business Management Law, which relates to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their financing, will be considered a predicate offense of money laundering if the proposed amendment is enacted. to AMLA.
President Rodrigo Duterte certified the measure as urgent, but the senators chose to reject it because it came with “conditions”, supposedly violating the separation of powers between the executive and the legislature.
The Senate disagrees with the Palace’s certification of the AMLA bill ‘with condition’
The House of Representatives already approved its version of the bill on December 1.
Since the Senate chose not to rely on the president’s certification, the proposed law could not go through the third and final reading before Congress goes into recess on December 19.
Congress will resume its sessions in January of next year.
KGA
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