On February 15, 2013, Pres.

Aquino signed Republic Act (RA) 10365 which

further strengthens the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) or RA 9160, which
was signed into law in 2001.

The revision of the AMLA was just in time for the Plenary session of the
international group Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering.

Because of this new law and other changes implemented by the country, the
Philippines has avoided being blacklisted, which, could have meant higher
financial transaction costs and stringent cross-border measures for money
transactions that could affect remittances.

Money laundering is defined in the AMLA as follows:

Money laundering is committed by any person who, knowing that any

monetary instrument or property represents, involves, or relates to the
proceeds of any unlawful activity:

(a) transacts said monetary instrument or property;

(b) converts, transfers, disposes of, moves, acquires, possesses or uses said
monetary instrument or property;
(c) conceals or disguises the true nature, source, location, disposition,
movement or ownership of or rights with respect to said monetary
instrument or property;
(d) attempts or conspires to commit money laundering offenses referred to
in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c);

(e) aids, abets, assists in or counsels the commission of the money

laundering offenses referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) above; and
(f) performs or fails to perform any act as a result of which he facilitates the
offense of money laundering referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) above.

Money laundering is also committed by any covered person who, knowing

that a covered or suspicious transaction is required under this Act to be
reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), fails to do so.

Basically, money laundering occurs when money that comes from illegal
activities are laundered or made clean when they are converted or
transferred to legal accounts and properties. Because of money laundering,
criminals are able to enjoy the fruits of their illegal activities without
exposing or jeopardizing their source.
How does this law affect real estate?
In the past, the focus of the AMLA was bank accounts. Cash is really liquid
and may really be moved around quickly and in many different accounts until
it is difficult to trace the source. Many Filipinos were made aware of this
possibility during the televised impeachment trial of former Chief Justice
Renato Corona.
Now, there is a specific mention of property. Based on my understanding,
before, the freezing of assets refers to accounts only. Well, this is
understandable as it is really possible for real estate to be used as a vehicle
for money laundering.
Furthermore, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) now has an added
function to require the Land Registration Authority (LRA) and all its
Registries of Deeds to submit to the AMLC, reports on all real estate
transactions involving an amount in excess of Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) within fifteen (15) days from the date of registration of the
transaction, in a form to be prescribed by the AMLC. The AMLC may also
require the Land Registration Authority and all its Registries of Deeds to
submit copies of relevant documents of all real estate transactions.
Previously, there was a move for real estate brokers to be the ones to report
the above transactions. This was not approved in the final version.

Another major issue with the law is that it does not include casino
operations. Casinos and gaming are related to the real estate industry and
are expected to give a major boost to the countrys tourism efforts. However,
casinos are indeed avenues for money laundering so the FATF is justified in
pushing for their inclusion in the next amendment of the AMLA.
What are the other salient features of the law?
Money that is laundered should have come from an unlawful
activity (which some callpredicate crimes). The definition of unlawful
activity has been expanded to 34 from 14 previously. The definition of
covered persons have been expanded as well.
With regard to the freezing of assets, Section 10 of the law has been
amended the freeze order should now be issued by the Court of Appeals
instead of the AMLC.
The details of the law are very technical and may be interesting only to a
few. Let me know your thoughts so we can discuss.