ABIERA, MARIEL C.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES

METRO MANILA

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

SECOND REGULAR SESSION

NOMENCLATURE
REPUBLIC ACT No. 11521

LONG TITLE
AN ACT FURTHER STRENGTHENING THE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAW, AMENDING
FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9160, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "ANTI-MONEY
LAUNDERING AC OF 2001", AS
AMENDED

ENACTING CLAUSE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

BODY
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared the policy of the State to protect and
preserve the integrity and confidentiality of bank accounts and to ensure that the Philippines shall not be
used as a money laundering site for the proceeds of any unlawful activity. Consistent with its foreign
policy, the State shall extend cooperation in transnational investigations and prosecutions of persons
involved in money laundering activities wherever committed, as well as in the implementation of targeted
financial sanctions related to the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism,
and financing of terrorism, pursuant to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council."

SEC. 2. Section 3 of the same Act is hereby amended as follows:

"SEC. 3. Definitions. — For purposes of this Act, the following termns are hereby defined as
follows:

"(a) 'Covered persons', natural or juridical refer to:

"(9) Real estate developers and brokers;

"(10) Offshore gaming operators, as well as their service providers, supervised, accredited or
regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) or any government agency;
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"(b) 'Covered transaction' is a transaction in cash or other equivalent monetary instrument involving
a total amount in excess of Five hundred thousand pesos (P500, 000.00) within one (1) banking day; for
covered persons under Section 3(a)(8), a single casino cash transaction involving an amount in excess of
Five million pesos (P 5,000,000.00) or its equivalent in any other currency.
'For covered persons under Section 3(a)(9) herein, a single cash transaction involving an
amount in excess of Seven million five hundred thousand pesos (P7,500,000.00) or its equivalent
in any other currency.
“(b-1) ‘Suspicious transactions’ are transactions with covered persons, regardless of the
amounts involved, where any of the following circumstances exist:
“1. There is no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification;
“2. The client is not properly identified;
“3. The amount involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of the
client;
"4. Taking into account all known circumstances, it may be perceived that the client's transaction
is structured in order to avoid being the subject of reporting requirements under the Act;
"5. Any circumstance relating to the transaction which is observed to deviate from the profile of
the client and/or the client's past transactions with the covered person;
"6. The transaction is in any way related to an unlawful activity or offense under this Act that is
about to be, is being or has been committed; or
"7. Any transaction that is similar or analogous to any of the foregoing.

"(i) Unlawful activity' refers to any act or omission or series or combination thereof
involving or having relation to the following:

"(33) Fraudulent practices and other violations under Republic Act No. 8799, otherwise known as
'The Securities Regulation Code of 2000';

"(34) Violation of Section 19 (a)(3) of Republic Act No. 10697, otherwise known as the 'Strategic
Trade Management Act', in relation to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and its financing
pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution Numbers 1718 of 2006 and 2231 of 2015";

“'(35) Violations of Section 254 of Chapter Il, Title X of the National Internal Revenue Code of
1997, as amended, where the deficiency basic tax due in the final assessment is in excess of Twenty-five
million pesos (P25,000,000.00) per taxable year, for each tax type covered and there has been a finding of
probable cause by the competent authority: Provided, further, that there must be a finding of fraud, willful
misrepresentation or malicious intent on the part of the taxpayer: Provided, finally, that in no case shall
the AMLC institute forfeiture proceedings to recover monetary instruments, property or proceeds
representing, involving, ort relating to a tax crime, if the same has already been recovered or collected by
the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in a separate proceeding; and

"(36) Felonies and offenses of a similar nature that are punishable under the penal laws of
other countries.
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"(l) For purposes of covered persons under Section 3(a)(8), the following terms are hereby
defined as follows:

"(4) 'Offshore gaming operator' refers to an entity engaged in offering online games of
chance or sporting events via the internet using a network and software program, by themselves or
through local service providers.
“5) ‘Service providers’ refer to duly constituted business corporations who provide
components of offshore gaming operations to offshore gaming operators.
“(m) ‘Real estate developer’ refers to any natural or juridical person engaged in the business
of developing real estate development project for the account of the developer and offering them
for sale or lease.
“(n) ‘Real estate broker’ refers to a duly registered and licensed natural person who, for a
professional fee, commission or other valuable consideration, acts as an agent of a party in a
real estate transaction to offer, advertise, solicit, list, promote, mediate, negotiate or effect
the meeting of the minds on the sale, purchase, exchange, mortgage, lease or joint venture,
or other similar transactions on real estate or any interest therein.
"(o) 'Targeted financial sanctions' refer to both asset freezing and prohibition to prevent funds or
other assets from being made available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of any individual, natural
or legal persons or entity designated pursuant to relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions
and its designation processes.
"(p) 'Proliferation financing' refers when a person:
"(1) Makes available an asset; or
"(2) Provides a financial service; or
"(3) Conducts a financial transaction; and the person knows that, or is reckless as to
whether, the asset, financial service or financial transaction is intended to, in whole or in part,
facilitate proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in relation to UN Security Council
6

Resolution Numbers 1718 of 2006 and 2231 of 2015."

SEC. 3. Section 7 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 7. Creation of Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). — The Anti-
Money Laundering Council is hereby created and shall be composed of the Governor of
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as Chairman, the Commissioner of the Insurance
Commission and the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as members.
The AMLC shall act unanimously in the discharge of its functions as

directly or indirectly, including funds and assets derived or generated therefrom, by individuals or entities
designated and listed under United Nations Security Council Resolution Numbers 1718 of 2006 and 2231
of 2015 and their successor resolutions as well as any binding resolution of the Security Council; and
"(16) to preserve, manage or dispose assets pursuant to a freeze order, asset preservation
order, or judgment of forfeiture: Provided, however, that pending their turnover fo the national
government, all expenses incurred in relation to the duties herein mentioned shall bedefined
hereunder:
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"(1) to require, receive and analyze covered or suspicious transactions reports from covered
persons;

"(5) to investigate suspicious transactions and covered transactions deemed suspicious after
determination by AMLC, money laundering activities, and other violations of this Act.

"(13) in the conduct of its investigation, the AMLC shall apply for the issuance of a search and
seizure order with any competent court;

"(14) in the conduct of its investigation, the AMLC shall apply for the issuance of subpoena ad
testificandum and/or subpoena duces tecum with any competent court;

"(15) to implement targeted financial sanctions in relation to proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction and its financing, including ex parte freeze, without delay, against all funds and other
assets that are owned and controlled, directly or indirectly, including funds and assets derived or
generated therefrom, by individuals or entities designated and listed under United Nations Security
Council Resolution Numbers 1718 of 2006 and 2231 of 2015 and their successor resolutions as well as
any binding resolution of the Security Council; and
"(16) to preserve, manage or dispose assets pursuant to a freeze order, asset preservation
order, or judgment of forfeiture: Provided, however, that pending their turnover fo the national
government, all expenses incurred in relation to the duties herein mentioned shall be deducted
from the amount to be turned over to the national government,"
SEC. 4. A new Section 8-A is hereby inserted after Section 8 (Creation of a Secretariat) ofRepublic
Act No. 9160, as amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 8-A. Information Security and Confidentiality. — The AMLC and its
Secretariat shall securely protect information received or processed and shall not reveal,
in any manner, any information known to them by reason of their office. This prohibition
shall apply even after their separation from the AMLC.
"The AMLC shall formulate rules governing information exchange and
dissemination, the security and confidentiality of such information, including procedures
for handling, storage, and protection of, as well as access to such information.
SEC. 5. Section 10 of the same Act is hereby further amended by inserting a new
paragraph to read as follows:
"SEC. 10. Freezing Monetary Instrument or Property.

"(a) Upon a verified exparte petition by the AMLC and after determination that probable cause
exists that any monetary instrument property is in any way related to an activity as defined in Section 3 (i)
hereof, of Appeals may issue a freeze order which be effective immediately, for a period of
(20) days. Within the twenty (20)-day Court of Appeals shall conduct a hearing, with notice to the
parties, to whether or not to modify or lift the freeze or extend its effectivity. The total period freeze
order issued by the Court of Appeals this provision shall not exceed six (6) This is without prejudice to
an asset order that the Regional Trial Court Jurisdiction over the appropriate laundering cage or civil
forfeiture case on the same account depending circumstances of the case, where the Appeals will
remand the case and its Provided, That if there is no case filed person whose account has been frozen
period determined by the Court of Appeals, exceeding six (6) months, the freeze order be deemed ipso
facto lifted: Provided, That this new rule shall not apply to cases in the courts. In any case, the court act
 ABIERA, MARIEL C.

on the petition to freeze within (24) hours from filing of the petition. application is filed a day before a
nonworking the computation of-the twenty-four period shall exclude the nonworking days,
"The freeze order or asset order issued under this Act shall be limited to the amount of cash or
monetary or value of property that court finds probable cause to be considered as proceeds predicate
offense, and the freeze order preservation order shall not apply to the same account in excess of the
amount of the proceeds of the predicate offense.
"A person whose account has been frozen may file a motion to lift the freeze order and the court
must resolve this motion before the of the freeze order.
“No court shall issue a temporary restraining order or a writ of injunction against order, except the
Supreme Court.
“(b) For purposes of implementing targeted sanctions in relation to proliferation of of mass
destruction and its financing, under Section 3(15), the AMLC shall power to issue, ex parte, an
order to without delay.
“The freeze order shall be effective until the its issuance shall have been lifted. the effectivity of the freeze order, the
party may, within twenty (20) days issuance, file with the Court of Appeals a determine the basis of the freeze order to
the principle of effective judicial Provided, That the person whose or funds have been frozen may withdraw as the
AMLC determines to be needed for monthly family needs and including the services of counsel and medical needs of
such person.
“The AMLC, if circumstances warrant, civil forfeiture proceedings to preserve and to protect it
from dissipation. No issue a temporary restraining order of injunction against the freeze order,
Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.”

SEC. 6. Section 12 of the same Act is hereby amended by inserting a new paragraph to
read as follows:

“SEC.12. (a) Civil Forfeiture.

“(d) No court shall issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or a writ of

injunction against any provisional asset preservation order or asset preservation order,
except the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.”

SEC.7. Section 14, paragraph (d) of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, is hereby
further amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 14. Penal Provisions.

“(d) Breach of Information Security and Confidentiality. The punishment of

imprisonment ranging from three (3) to eight (8) years and a fine of not less than Five
hundred thousand Philippine pesos (Php500,000.00) but not more than One Million
Philippine pesos (Php1,000,000.00), shall be imposed on a person convicted for a
violation under Section 9(c) or Section 8-A on information security and confidentiality
of this Act. If the offender is a public official or employee, he shall, in addition to the
penalties prescribed herein, suffer the penalty of perpetual or temporary absolute
disqualification from public office, as the case may be. In the case of breach of
confidentiality that is published or reported by the media, the responsible reporter,
writer, president, publisher, manager and editor-in-chief shall be liable under this Act.”

SEC. 8. Section 20 of the Same act is hereby amended to read as follows:

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“SEC. 20. Non-intervention in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Operations.

– Nothing contained in this Act nor in relation antecedent laws or existing agreements
shall be construed to allow the AMLC to participate in any manner in the operations of
the BIR. The AMLC may, however, coordinate with the BIR on investigations in
relation to violations of Section 254 of the NIRC, as amended, as a predicate offense to
money laundering.”

SEC. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – The AMLC shall, within ninety (90)
days from the effectivity of this Act, issue the necessary rules and regulations.

SEPARABILITY CLAUSE
SEC. 10. Separability Clause. — If any provision or section this Act is held to be unconstitutional
or invalid, the other provisions or sections hereof, which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in
full force and effect.
REPEALING CLAUSE
SEC. 11. Repealing Clause. — provisions of existing laws, orders, rules and regulations, or parts
thereof which are in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended,
or modified accordingly: Provided, That all provisions of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, which are
not inconsistent with this Act are hereby adopted.
EFFECTIVITY
SEC. 12. Effectivity. — This Act shall" take effect immediately after the completion of its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.