Philippines removed from EU’s dirty money watchlist

June 12, 2025 , 05:59 PM

(June 12, 2025) – The European Commission has officially taken the Philippines off its list of “high-risk” countries with weak safeguards against money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT).

This came after a comprehensive review by the Commission, which looked at data from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), conducted bilateral dialogues, and carried out on-site inspections.

“These countries have strengthened the effectiveness of their AML/CFT regimes and addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments in their action plans on the strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF,” as stated by the European Commission in its report.

Under EU rules, specifically Article 9 of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, the Commission is required to regularly update its list of high-risk third countries.

Being on the list meant European banks and financial institutions had to apply stricter checks when dealing with Philippine-based clients or transactions. Now that the country is delisted, those extra layers of scrutiny will no longer apply.

Alongside the Philippines, seven other countries were also removed from the list: Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, Senegal, Uganda, and the United Arab Emirates.

Ten jurisdictions were added, including Kenya, Venezuela, and Lebanon.

“As a founding member of FATF, the Commission is closely involved in monitoring the progress of the listed jurisdictions, helping them to fully implement their respective action plans agreed with FAFT,” added the Commission.

The Philippines has had a long and complicated history with global financial watchdogs. It was first blacklisted by the FATF in 2002 for weak anti-money laundering controls but managed to get off the list by 2005.

However, it was placed back under increased monitoring, the so-called “grey list,” following the 2016 cyberheist involving $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank, which was funneled through Philippine casinos.

In February this year, the FATF removed the Philippines from its grey list after finding that the country had made significant improvements in monitoring suspicious transactions and cracking down on illicit finance.

(CMZ)

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