Philippine casinos could be required to report all transactions over $3,200

Casinos in the Philippines could be required to report all transactions above $3,200 if a new Senate bill becomes law.

On Monday, new legislation was introduced in the Philippine House of Representatives that would remove the exemption casinos received under the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001. On Thursday, the Senate got its own bill to increase scrutiny of casino transactions.

In introducing Senate Bill 45, Sen. Panfilo Lacson specifically referenced the recent Bangladeshi bank heist that saw $81m in stolen funds flow through local casinos and junket operators. Lacson said the scandal had exposed the AMLA’s “vulnerabilities” and steps were required to guard against “the raging threats of money laundering.”

SB 45 would require casinos to report individual or aggregate transactions totaling P150k ($3,200) over a single gaming day. By way of comparison, US federal reporting requirements set the single transaction threshold at $10k.