PAGCOR Orders Stronger AML Controls for Philippine Casinos

Philippine casinos have been instructed to reinforce their anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) controls after a regulatory assessment concluded that the sector continues to face significant financial crime risks.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) issued the directive following a review covering the 2021–2024 period, which rated money laundering risk as high and terrorism financing risk as medium-high.

Rather than limiting changes to compliance documentation, PAGCOR said future inspections will assess whether operators have effectively incorporated the findings into their everyday compliance procedures and their ability to detect suspicious transactions.

Cash Transactions and VIP Gaming Highlighted

The assessment identified several areas that remain vulnerable to financial crime. These include large cash transactions, junket operations, VIP gaming, electronic gaming services, remote gaming platforms and cross-border fund transfers.

Although the review found no confirmed terrorism financing cases involving licensed casinos during the assessment period, PAGCOR said operators must continue treating the risk as a separate compliance priority rather than combining it with broader anti-money laundering measures.

The regulator expects casinos to evaluate money laundering and terrorism financing risks independently, reflecting a more focused supervisory approach.

Stronger Monitoring Expected

PAGCOR has instructed licensed casinos and their service providers to reassess their internal risk management systems and determine whether existing safeguards remain effective.

Operators are expected to strengthen customer due diligence by verifying beneficial ownership, identifying the source of funds and wealth, conducting sanctions screening and checking whether customers qualify as politically exposed persons (PEPs).

The regulator also called for more active transaction monitoring after customer onboarding. It identified rapid chip redemptions, substantial buy-ins followed by limited gaming activity and transactions spread across multiple gaming channels as behaviors that should receive closer scrutiny.

In addition, casinos have been advised to improve customer-level record keeping to ensure transaction histories can be reconstructed when suspicious activity is detected.

Greater Oversight of High-Risk Activities

PAGCOR indicated that VIP gaming and junket-related operations will remain a major focus during future supervisory reviews.

Junket businesses, which organize high-value gambling activities, continue to present oversight challenges because they may obscure the origin and movement of player funds.

Regulators also plan to examine how operators monitor cash handling, chip transactions, electronic gaming activities and regulatory reporting. PAGCOR warned that operators failing to address the findings of the sector-wide risk assessment could face increased regulatory scrutiny during future inspections.