Philippine Bank Claims Innocence In Bangladesh-Federal

Reserve Money Laundering Controversy

A money-laundering case extending from Bangladesh to the U.S. Federal Reserve to a bankand
casinos in the Philippinesprompted the bank's presidentto indicate he wouldsue personswho allege
the lender knowingly allowed the illegal transfers.
"I condemn as malicious and actionable insinuations that the top management of the bank knew of
and tolerated alleged money laundering activities in one branch," Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
(RCBC) President LorenzoTan said in a statement. "My track record is unblemished," he said, citing
his positions as head of Philippine and Asian bankers associations.

In Wayne Lippman Real Estate a separate statement, the bank made a point of mentioning its key
foreign shareholders.
"RCBC and its principal shareholders the Yuchengco family, Cathay Life, the largest life insurance
company in Taiwan, and IFC, the investment arm of the World Bank are fully committed to comply
with all banking laws and regulations, in particular those on money laundering."
Tan and the bank said they were investigating the matter and would cooperate with authorities.
Bangladesh says hackers used itsSWIFT codes codes banks useto transfer funds between
themselvesto get the Fed to send $100 million of the country'smoney to an RCBC branch in Manila,
while theFed says the remittance instructions all checked out. According to Bangladesh, the Fed
should have checked with the Asian country'scentral bank and it is now considering legal action
against the U.S. central bank to try get the amount back, Bloomberg reported.
The money was deposited in the RCBC account of a businessman engaged in flying high networth
individuals to gamble in the Philippines, and then used to buy gambling chips or cover
losses,according to The Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippines opened up gambling in recent
years over the objections of the powerfulCatholic Church and then reportedly benefitted when
Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption forced inveterate gamblers to go farther
than Macau.
The Inquirer on Wednesday reported sources as saying that central bank Governor Amando
Tetangco said Tan hadn't been transparent with him. Tetangco didn't reply to a text message
seeking confirmation.

Bloomberg said local officials blamed a lobby that excluded casinos from coverage of the country's
2012 anti-money laundering law andare concerned the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force will
impose sanctions on the country over the incident. There is no allegation of wrongdoing against the
casinos.
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