Philippines Removed From Global Money Laundering ‘Gray List’

Posted on: February 24, 2025, 10:25h. 

Last updated on: February 24, 2025, 12:19h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The Philippines has improved its money laundering protections
  • Manila is home to several casino resorts
  • In 2016, Solaire was the site of an international money laundering scheme

The Philippines has been struck from a global money laundering “gray list.”

Philippines money laundering casinos Manila
A casino owned by the Philippines government is seen at a hotel in Manila. The Philippines has been removed from a global gray list regarding anti-money laundering. (Image: Shutterstock)

After years of implementing more stringent safeguards to protect financial institutions, including the country’s many casinos, from being used by criminals to launder dirty money, a global intergovernmental money-laundering watchdog says the Philippines has made adequate improvements to remove itself from increased monitoring.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed the Philippines on its “Increased Monitoring” list in 2021. The organization at the time said the country’s inclusion was to “address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation of financing.”

Since then, the FATF has worked with the Philippines and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration to better monitor the flow of money in and out of the country. The Philippines’ gray list removal is expected to help boost investments in the country.

The FATF Plenary congratulated the Philippines for the positive progress in addressing the strategic anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) deficiencies previously identified during their mutual evaluations. The Philippines has completed their Action Plan to resolve the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and will no longer be subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process,” the FATF said in a statement.

“The Philippines should continue to work with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering of which it is a member to sustain its improvements in its AML/CFT system. The FATF encourages the Philippines to continue its work in ensuring that its CFT measures are appropriately applied, particularly the identification and prosecution of TF cases, and are neither discouraging nor disrupting legitimate NPO activity,” the release added.

Philippines Casino Money Laundering Incident

The Philippines capital of Manila and its Entertainment City is home to four integrated resort casinos with Solaire, City of Dreams, Okada, and Newport World Resorts. In 2016, Solaire was the site of a massive money laundering operation.

North Korea is alleged to have hacked into the Bangladesh Bank account held at the Federal Reserve in New York City’s Manhattan. US law enforcement agencies suspected that North Korean hackers scheduled nearly $1 billion in withdrawals.

After $81 million was successfully transferred, an official at the Federal Reserve became suspicious after one of the withdrawals was for the Shalika Foundation, but “foundation” was incorrectly spelled “Fandation.” When reached to confirm the withdrawal schedule was legitimate, Bangladesh officials said they hadn’t prompted the transactions, and the remaining requests were canceled.

It was later determined that about $29 million of the $81 million stolen was laundered by North Korean operatives through the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and Solaire Resort. Solaire and its parent company, Manila-based Bloomberry Resorts, were cleared of wrongdoing. 

Philippines Economy

Departing the FATF gray list will likely attract new investments in the country, the Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Council said.

The Philippines’ exit from the FATF gray list is expected to facilitate faster and lower-cost cross-border transactions, reduce compliance barriers, and enhance financial transparency. Exiting the FATF gray list is a significant step in strengthening the Philippines’ financial system and maintaining global confidence,” the council said on Saturday.

Countries that don’t improve their money laundering protections after being placed on the FATF gray list risk being blacklisted. Companies and nations are encouraged to avoid doing business with blacklisted countries, which currently include North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar (Burma).