Bangkok Post – Philippine laundering risks still seen despite online casino ban

The Philippines’ ban on online casinos hasn’t eliminated money laundering risks, and any failure to stamp out illegal entities could undercut efforts to permanently exit a global watchlist, according to a Moody’s analyst.

“There are still inherent risks, and it’s not just the underground online gaming,” Choon Hong Chua, head of the financial crime practice group for Asia Pacific and the Middle East at Moody’s, said in an interview. “We’ve seen examples in the past when some of the scam centres were masquerading as call centres and data centres.”

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr last year outlawed online casinos catering to foreign bettors, saying they were involved in money laundering, scamming and human trafficking. Still, illegal operators have remained even after the ban took effect at the end of 2024, with authorities this month raiding at least two alleged scam centres and an illegal online gaming facility, according to the Bureau of Immigration’s website.

While eradicating organised crimes that are very profitable is often “challenging”, the Philippines should build on gains in legislation and enforcement as criminal activities evolve, Chua said.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in October said the Philippines has substantially addressed the issues that had kept the country on a gray list since June 2021. Manila’s reforms include mitigating risks associated with casino junkets, sanctions on unregistered and illegal remittance operators and increased investigations and prosecutions of money-laundering and terrorist-financing cases.

The Philippines could exit the FATF watchlist this year, a move that would lead to faster and cheaper remittances for overseas Filipinos who repatriate billions of dollars, which help fuel consumer spending. 

The Moody’s analyst said sustained regulatory oversight should also extend beyond banks. 

“Across the region and in fact across the world, traditionally the corporate organisations are not as regulated as the financial institutions,” Chua said. “A lot of these organisations are the ones serving some of the high-risk clients.”

While the Philippines’ anti-money laundering enforcement profile has improved, Chua said consistency and persistence are key. “We’ve seen examples in the past of other countries where they go in and out of the grey list,” he said.

The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council secretariat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.