After reading “What are Covered Institutions under the Anti-Money Laundering Act?”, read also “What are investment contracts?“
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Covered “institutions” was changed to covered “persons.”
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Covered persons are natural or juridical.
Consistent with its foreign policy, the State shall extend cooperation in transnational investigations and prosecution of persons involved in money laundering activities whenever committed.
Covered “Institutions” was changed to Covered “Persons” under R.A. No. 10365. Covered persons are natural or juridical and shall register with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). Who are covered persons under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)?
The law says:
(1) banks, non-banks, quasi-banks, trust entities, foreign exchange dealers, pawnshops, money changers, remittance and transfer companies and other similar entities and all other persons and their subsidiaries and affiliates supervised or regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP);
(2) insurance companies, pre-need companies and all other persons supervised or regulated by the Insurance Commission (IC);
(3) (i) securities dealers, brokers, salesmen, investment houses and other similar persons managing securities or rendering services as investment agent, advisor, or consultant, (ii) mutual funds, close-end investment companies, common trust funds, and other similar persons, and (iii) other entities administering or otherwise dealing in currency, commodities or financial derivatives based thereon, valuable objects, cash substitutes and other similar monetary instruments or property supervised or regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);
(4) jewelry dealers in precious metals, who, as a business, trade in precious metals, for transactions in excess of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00);
(5) jewelry dealers in precious stones, who, as a business, trade in precious stones, for transactions in excess of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00);
(6) 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; and
(7) persons who provide any of the following services:
(i) managing of client money, securities or other assets;
(ii) management of bank, savings or securities accounts;
(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.
In addition to the foregoing, casinos, including internet and ship-based casinos, with respect to their casino cash transactions related to the gaming operations; real estate developers and brokers; and offshore gaming operators, as well as their service providers, supervised, accredited, or regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) or any government agency are likewise included under the covered transactions.
Who are excluded from the term “covered persons”?
The law says:
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term ‘covered persons’ shall exclude lawyers and accountants acting as independent legal professionals in relation to information concerning their clients or where disclosure of information would compromise client confidences or the attorney-client relationship: Provided, That these lawyers and accountants are authorized to practice in the Philippines and shall continue to be subject to the provisions of their respective codes of conduct and/or professional responsibility or any of its amendments.
Thus, these persons must be acting as independent legal and accounting professionals in relation to information concerning their clients or where disclosure of information would compromise client confidences in the practice of their profession.
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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