The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has partnered with several government agencies, including the police and PAGCOR, to share information on beneficial owners of companies and other regulated entities.
The SEC signed the data-sharing agreement with the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) as part of the country’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Under the agreement, the SEC will provide these agencies access to accurate and adequate beneficial ownership information in line with the recommendations of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-money laundering watchdog.
According to the local media, “the data sharing agreement also seeks to protect personal and sensitive personal data by incorporating measures”.
In 2022, the SEC promulgated SEC MC No. 10, Series of 2022, increasing the penalties and imposing additional non-financial penalties for non-disclosure and false disclosure of beneficial ownership information, among others.
The Philippines is currently trying to get itself off of the FATF’s grey list by adopting stringent anti money-laundering policies.