Anti-Money Laundering Council(AMLCS)

June 17, 2022 Dear Atty. Casten, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated May 31, 2022 04:15:14 PM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. Pursuant to Rule 4, Sections 1(b)(3) and 1(b)(4) of the 2018 Implementing Rules and Regulations (2018 IRR), in relation to Sections 3(a)(6) and 3(a)(7) of Republic Act No. 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended (AMLA), all persons, including lawyers and law firms who engage in or offer the following services, are covered persons: (a) acting as a formation agent of juridical persons; (b) acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a director or corporate secretary of a company, a partner of a partnership, or a similar position in relation to other juridical persons; (c) providing a registered office, business address or accommodation, correspondence or administrative address for a company, a partnership or any other legal person or arrangement; (d) acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a nominee shareholder for another person; (e) managing of client money, securities or other assets; (f) management of bank, savings, securities or other assets; (g) organization of contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies; and (h) creation, operation or management of juridical persons or arrangements and buying and selling business entities. Under Rule 4, Section 3.2 and Rule 22, Section 4 of the 2018 IRR of the AMLA, all covered persons are required to register with the AMLC. Should your law firm perform the above-mentioned services, it shall be classified as a Designated Non-Financial Business and Profession (DNFBP), which is required to register with the AMLC. The AMLC Provisional Certificate of Registration (PCOR) may be obtained by registering at the AMLC Portal at https://portal.amlc.gov.ph/amlc/ and uploading the following documents pursuant to Part 2 (Online Registration) of the 2021 AMLC Registration and Reporting Guidelines (ARRG) and Section 49 of the 2021 Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing Guidelines for DNFBPs: (a) Proof of designation of the Compliance Officer (CO), Associated Persons (APs), or Primary Designated Officers (PDOs); (b) Most recent Articles of Incorporation and General Information Sheet from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Certificate of Registration from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); or proof of registration with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA); Real Estate Brokers’ Certificate of Registration or License from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); (c) Notarized Deeds of Undertaking of the entity, signed by the proprietor/partners/president/directors; and (d) Notarized Board Resolution or Certificate of Designation as Compliance Officer. After registration, you will be provided a PCOR, which may be presented to covered persons such as banks, in compliance with the latter’s customer due diligence measures prescribed under the 2018 IRR of the AMLA. However, it should be noted that the PCOR shall be valid only for a period of six (6) months, and the DNFBP shall be issued a Certificate of Registration (COR) only upon submission of the following requirements under Section 50 of the DNFBP Guidelines: (a) Copy of business registration or permit from the city or municipality currently having jurisdiction over the place of establishment and operation of the office; (b) List of operating office locations; (c) Proof of attendance of the proprietor, partners, directors and principal officers in an AML seminar; and (d) Most recent Clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or its equivalent in a foreign jurisdiction, of all directors and principal officers. The step-by-step registration procedure is laid down under Part 2 (Online Registration) of the 2021 ARRG. Should you require assistance at any stage of the process, or for any registration-related query, you may contact the Data Collection and Management Unit of the AMLC at Telephone Nos. (632) 87087067, (632) 53020- 3948, or (632) 5310-3244, or Cellphone Nos. 09157780720 and 09687727045. You may, likewise, visit our website at http://www.amlc.gov.ph/ for updates regarding the matter. We hope we have been of assistance. Respectfully, FOI Decision Maker