The Philippines as a potential hotbed for money laundering: A study of Republic Act No. 9160, otherwise known as The Anti Money Laundering Act, as amended, and the use of cryptocurrency for money laundering

• Main Authors: Monfort, Miguel Jose Domingo Lalaquit, Zalameda, Jasper Rodil A., II
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Money laundering—Law and legislation > Philippines; Cryptocurrencies; Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_law/17
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Philippines is far from achieving the goal of eliminating money laundering. Insufficiency of proper provisions in the current Money Laundering Act is inescapable because of the rapid change in the society caused by technology. The age of cryptocurrency is now. Research has shown that the world is using cryptocurrency for payments, exchanges, wallets and mining. In other words, it is used nowadays to facilitate the trade of buyers and sellers. Apart from the long line of advantages technology has given the world, there are a number of people who would abuse such development and use it maliciously. This study aims to improve the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 to safeguard the Philippines from the emergence of cryptocurrency in the market. To achieve such goals, the study must answer the main research question, which is: what are the gaps in the current laws in relation to cryptocurrency? In this context, cryptocurrency is defined as a new form of digital asset founded on a series of network distributed all over the world. Decentralized money means that the governments and central authorities do not have control over them. Based on the study conducted by the proponents using online resources, books, journals, articles, jurisprudence and laws, they have demonstrated how cryptocurrency is used for money laundering. In addition, all the procedures and laws from various countries are provided to have a grasp of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, and whether it can pass the international standards. Based on the international yardstick, the Anti- Money Laundering act of 2001 is capable of stopping the crime only at a certain extent. Loopholes can be found which the possible offenders could use to circumvent the law.