LogicaCMG, NetEconomy tapped for anti-money laundering system

The Association of Bank Compliance Officers of the Philippines (ABCOMP), facilitated by the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), has selected LogicaCMG and NetEconomy as the preferred suppliers to develop the first national anti-money laundering (AML) system in the Philippines.

Countering this illegal activity is a major part of the Philippines’ efforts to comply with the anti-money laundering guidelines and recommendations of the Financial Actions Task Force (FATF).

Non-compliance puts considerable international political pressure on the country and makes it difficult for its financial institutions to conduct business with the rest of the world.

Leonilo Coronel, BAP executive director, said, "The fight against international money laundering not only provides customers in our country with a safer banking environment, but it is also a key structure in the fight against terrorism."

"We are determined to make our banking system as protected as possible against criminal activity. This will also assure some eight million Filipino overseas contract workers that their remittances, approximately $8 billion annually, are handled in the most secure manner," he added.

The BAP is comprised of all commercial banks in the Philippines. In 2004, it supported the initiative of ABCOMP, in collaboration with the Anti-Money Laundering Council of the Philippines (AMLAC), to create a committee to develop a plan to improve the country’s anti-money laundering activities.

As part of this plan, the committee sought proposals to implement a shared anti-money laundering system for the Philippines.

The shared ERASE Compliance Manager solution from NetEconomy offers participating financial institutions an integrated end-to-end platform for money laundering detection, investigation, case tracking, and automated reporting

John Evans, financial crime solutions director of LogicaCMG, said, "Money laundering has become a major concern to the international banking community with some estimates suggesting $1,500 billion a year passes illegally through the global system."

"The Philippines’ new national AML system will help combat this problem as it enables each bank to electronically monitor and investigate suspicious behavior related to money laundering in a timely and cost-effective manner," he added.

Henry Barenholz, vice president for sales and marketing of NetEconomy, said, "We are pleased to support the Philippine government in its efforts to mitigate and manage money laundering and terrorist financing activity. The shared AML system to be implemented is a testament to the flexibility of the ERASE Compliance Manager solution."

He added: "The benefit of integrating transaction data from multiple Filipino financial institutions, for a holistic and integrated platform, goes beyond cost savings to increased efficiencies and transparency for a total view of customer activity across the participating banks."