PAGCOR mandates casino AML upgrades after industry-wide risk evaluation
2026-07-22
Source: Yogonet
PAGCOR has directed all licensed casino operators and gaming support providers to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls after a risk assessment covering 2021-2024 classified the sector as high risk for money laundering. Operators must update internal risk models, enhance due diligence, and distribute findings to key personnel, with non-compliance potentially leading to sanctions.
The Philippine gaming regulator has ordered all licensed casinos and supporting service firms to tighten their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls, acting on a sector-wide review that highlighted persistent vulnerabilities.
PAGCOR's Casino Sector Risk Assessment for 2021-2024 rated the industry as "High Risk" for money laundering and "Medium Risk" for terrorism financing. The directive requires operators to revisit their existing AML/CTF risk models, align internal assessments with the regulator's findings, and bolster customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, source-of-funds checks, sanctions screening, and suspicious activity reporting.
Operators must circulate the risk assessment to board members, senior executives, compliance officers, internal audit teams, and frontline personnel, then pinpoint weaknesses in current controls and remediate them accordingly.
Land-based casinos and electronic gaming venues remain particularly exposed, according to PAGCOR, because they process large cash volumes and often lack full visibility into clients' fund origins, especially within the VIP junket segment. The assessment noted that "high-value play, intermediated customer relationships, foreign patronage and complex settlement arrangements can reduce transparency over the source of funds, beneficial ownership and the true person controlling the activity."
Illicit money flowing into the casino sector typically stems from drug trafficking, fraud, estafa, cybercrime, environmental offenses, and tax evasion, PAGCOR stated. While no confirmed terrorism-financing cases emerged among its licensees during the review period, the regulator cautioned that casinos could still be used as an endpoint for funds that have passed through banks, remittance services, or e-money platforms.
Gaming platform and support-service providers have been told to ensure their systems help operators meet AML obligations and do not enable hidden transaction trails. PAGCOR will conduct examinations to verify compliance with the updated risk assessment and warned that failure to implement adequate measures may result in administrative penalties.