The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has mandated that licensed gaming operators enhance their anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism financing controls. This directive follows PAGCOR's declaration of a high level of risk for illegal activities within the country's gambling industry. As of July 13, PAGCOR emphasized that operators should utilize findings from its second sector assessment to inform their internal evaluations and compliance efforts against money laundering.
Conducted on June 25, this assessment reviews the period from 2021 to 2024. It highlighted that the gaming sector continues to be significantly vulnerable to funds obtained from serious predicate crimes, particularly in scenarios involving high-value transactions, cash activities, VIP or junket relationships, electronic gaming, online platforms, or lax controls.
Although the assessment rated the likelihood of money laundering in the casino sector as very high and terrorism financing as medium-high, PAGCOR acknowledged that there have been no reported instances of such activities linked to casinos regulated by PAGCOR in recent years. The organization attributes the elevated risk of money laundering to several factors inherent in the gambling industry, including substantial cash transactions, currency exchange activities, interactions with high-risk clients, multi-channel operations, and insufficient cooperation among involved parties.
To mitigate these risks, PAGCOR has instructed operators to bolster their customer due diligence processes, verify sources of funds, enhance transaction monitoring, and increase oversight of VIP, junket, remote gaming, and high-value customer engagements.
