Calls are being escalated from key financial institutions in the Philippines for the intensification of controls over casino junkets in the country.
Lobbying has largely come from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which has stated that there are significant concerns around the flow of illicit money through the junkets and the levels of anonymity that are enabled to take place as a result of how they operate.
Central to the call for changes is the verification of customers, as the bank in the country has elevated calls for deeper player checks and monitoring of transactions.
“Financial transactions linked to CJOs can pose elevated money laundering risks,” said Deputy Governor Lyn Javier.
“We identify the best practices and red flags BSFIs need to watch out for to be strong partners in our shared goal of curtailing crime and safeguarding the integrity of the financial system,” Javier added.
Furthermore, there are also challenges raised towards board and senior management oversight of money laundering and terrorism financing prevention programs, client acceptance and identification, ongoing monitoring and suspicious transaction reporting and self-assessment and training.
The BSP also urged BSFIs to maintain existing good practices such as enhanced due diligence for high-risk clients, automated transaction monitoring, client link analysis, independent verification with regulatory agencies and participation in information-sharing initiatives.
Sharing of data could be crucial in boosting the effectiveness of stopping the flow of illicit transactions within the casino space.
The Philippines has been in the midst of a major transformation in terms of its gambling framework this year as it continues to adjust to life after POGOs, off the back of a policy by President Ferdinand Marcos in July 2024 to end licensing the operations due to their links to criminal activities.
He warned that they had ‘ventured into illicit areas beyond gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture and even murder’, and a deadline of the end of 2024 was set for the closure of such operations.
Since then, the market has reportedly seen the eradication of POGOs, with authorities confirming that ‘there are no official POGOs left’ and ‘no illegal POGOs either’, indicating the success of a crackdown on the sector by the government.
However, a recent UN report warned of the prevalence of ‘Guerrilla POGO’ operations that continue to operate without the authority of PAGCOR.
It warned that they frequently relocate to evade detection, shifting into smaller discreet units, using residential condominiums instead of office towers, and functioning as mobile scam cells.
The UN report will raise alarm bells in terms of the efficiency with which PAGCOR tackles the illegal gambling sector and enforces its framework despite implementing stringent policies for the sector.
