THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) vowed to address the three remaining "strategic deficiencies" in the government's efforts to counter money laundering and counterterrorism financing by October this year for a possible exit from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) "gray list" in 2025.

"We are hopeful that we will comply with all these action items by October of this year, meaning if we complete these action items by October this year, there's a high probability of an on-site visit by early next year, which is January," Matthew David, executive director of the AMLC Secretariat, told a budget hearing on Tuesday.

Last June, the Paris-based FATF, a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, kept the Philippines on its "gray list" of countries that needed increased monitoring.

While noting that progress had been made, the FATF said three "strategic deficiencies" still needed to be addressed: mitigating money laundering and terrorist financing risks linked to casino junkets; detecting false currency declarations and the confiscation of illicit proceeds; and the prosecution of terrorist financing-related cases.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. earlier said it was unlikely for the country to be able to exit the gray list this year, a position that runs counter to the government's target of an October 2024 exit.

The central bank governor added that most of the remaining action items will be "largely addressed" during the FATF's next plenary session in October.

He emphasized that full compliance will need to be verified and, if successful, the Philippines' exit from the gray list could happen sometime in January next year.

Manila was on the FATF "black list" from June 2000 to February 2005 for noncompliance, but was moved to the gray list from 2010 to 2013 after several reforms were implemented. In 2021, however, it was moved back to the gray list after FATF reviews identified certain deficiencies.

Being on the black list means a country is considered a high-risk jurisdiction "subject to a call for action" for that country to apply countermeasures to protect the international financial system from risks emanating from the blacklisted country, the FATF explained on its website.

In January 2023, the Philippines missed a deadline to address these issues, but was granted a one-year extension.

Early this year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed all relevant agencies to address all the remaining action plans within the year for a possible exit from the gray list within 2024.

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