Anti-Money Laundering Council(AMLCS)

May 25, 2023 Dear Mr. Pabellon, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated May 04, 2023 04:16:00 PM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. Particularly, you are requesting for access to a database on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), or a list of those subject to sanctions in the Philippines for KYC (Know-your-Customer) checking. Section 9(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended (AMLA) and Rule 18, Section 2.1 of the 2018 Implementing Rules and Regulations (2018 IRR) require covered persons to conduct customer due diligence (CDD) and determine which clients are likely to pose low, normal, or high risk. Thus, covered persons shall implement CDD/KYC measures on their clients when establishing a business relationship, among others, subject to their respective Money Laundering/Terrorism Financing Prevention Programs. As for the database on Politically-Exposed Persons (PEPs) in the Philippines, the AMLC does not maintain a database as this will only serve to limit the coverage of identified PEPs. It is the covered person's responsibility to identify and verify the PEPs. Considering that the covered persons are in better positions to know their customers' profile (and identify who are trying to exert influence on them), the definition should suffice as a guide for covered persons. For guidance purposes, however, examples on who may be considered as domestic PEPs in the Philippines are provided: (a) The President and Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines; (b) Senators and Representatives in Congress; (c) Justices of the Supreme Court; (d) Justice of the appellate courts and judges of lower courts, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant judicial regions; (e) Heads and deputies of Constitutional Commissions and offices; (f) Heads and deputies of national government agencies; (g) Heads and deputies of regional officers of national government agencies, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant regions; (h) Heads and deputies of city or municipal (or barangay, if any) offices of national government agencies, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant city or municipality (or barangay, if any) (i) Chief executives (and their administrators) of local government units, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant local government units; (j) Members of Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Panglungsod, Pambayan, and Pambarangay, for branches or offices of covered persons in the relevant province, city or municipality, or barangay; and (k) Prominent public officials, regardless of whether they are in their territorial jurisdiction, where the covered person feels that such public official can exert influence on them. For international organization PEPs, members of senior management or individuals who have been entrusted with equivalent functions, i.e. directors, deputy directors and members of the board or equivalent functions, may be considered. Examples of these are the Secretary General and President of the United Nations (UN), Member-Representatives of the UN Security Council and other organs of the UN, and heads of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Financial Action Task Force, Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering, and other international organizations and non-government organizations. Finally, the following are examples of foreign PEPs: (a) Heads of State or of government; (b) Senior politicians; (c) Senior government, judicial or military officials' (d) Senior executives of state owned corporations; and (e) Important political party officials. However, the aforementioned list is not exclusive and is merely provided for guidance purposes. For detailed information, it is suggested that you visit the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) website for the list of elected local officials and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website for the Philippine Government Directory for Agencies and Officials. We hope we have been of assistance. May we request you to fill-out our feedback form to enable the us to continuously improve their services: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=b5DZDHVFMEWm-8r6KIAvF_bmwAET7W9KpjGjBkMmOf5UMFRaQzFFNlFOQlY1RVhOQVRFWjlCTktFRi4u Respectfully, FOI Decision Maker