MANILA (UPDATE) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday signed a measure amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), in a bid to boost regulations on money laundering in the Philippines.

Republic Act No. 11521 is important, the President earlier said, as it aims to protect the integrity and confidentiality of bank accounts and to prevent money laundering in the country.

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Duterte in October last year sought for the speedy passage of counterpart bills House Bill No. 6174 and Senate Bill No. 1412 which would strengthen AMLA, and certified both as urgent.

Said bills aimed to comply with legal standards for anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing that were established by international bodies.

• READ: Duterte certifies as urgent bills boosting anti-money laundering law, financial resiliency amid COVID-19 crisis

The measure was also expanded to cover real estate developers and brokers, offshore gaming operators supervised, accredited, or regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

The AMLA is also applicable to transactions over P500,000 in a day, and even casino cash transactions of over P5 million.

Some provisions on tax crimes were also added and its proposed thresholds under the law. A section on information security and confidentiality, and on incentive system and rewards was also added.

• House OKs on 2nd reading proposed amendments to PH anti-money laundering law

The measure also added the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) power to investigate all those that can be considered “suspicious transactions.”

AMLC was also tasked to create the law’s implementing rules and regulations within 90 days after the law’s date of effectivity or after its publication on the country’s Official Gazette or a newspaper in general circulation. — With reports from Joyce Balancio and Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News