REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10167, June 18, 2012
AN ACT TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAW, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTIONS 10 AND 11 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9160, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING A…
SECTION 1. Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9160, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 10. Freezing of Monetary Instrument or Property. – Upon verified ex parte petition
by the AMLC and after determination that probable cause exists that any
monetary instrument or property is in any way related to an unlawful
activity as defined in Section 3(i) hereof, the Court of Appeals may
issue a freeze order, which shall be effective immediately. The freeze
order shall be for a period of twenty (20) days unless extended by the
court. In any case, the court should act on the petition to freeze
within twenty-four (24) hours from filing of the petition. If the
application is filed a day before a nonworking day, the computation of
the twenty-four (24)-hour period shall exclude the nonworking days.”“A
person whose account has been frozen may file a motion to lift the
freeze order and the court must resolve this motion before the
expiration of the twenty (20)-day original freeze order.”“No
court shall issue a temporary restraining order or a writ of injunction
against any freeze order, except the Supreme Court.”
SEC. 2. Section 11 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 11. Authority to Inquire into Bank Deposits. –
Notwithstanding the provisions of Republic Act No. 1405, as amended;
Republic Act No. 6426, as amended; Republic Act No. 8791; and other
laws, the AMLC may inquire into or examine any particular deposit or
investment, including related accounts, with any banking institution or
non-bank financial institution upon order of any competent court based
on an ex parte application in cases of violations of this Act,
when it has been established that there is probable cause that the
deposits or investments, including related accounts involved, are
related to an unlawful activity as defined in Section 3(i) hereof or a
money laundering offense under Section 4 hereof; except that no court
order shall be required in cases involving activities defined in Section
3(i)(1), (2), and (12) hereof, and felonies or offenses of a nature
similar to those mentioned in Section 3(i)(1), (2), and (12), which are
Punishable under the penal laws of other countries, and terrorism and
conspiracy to commit terrorism as defined and penalized under Republic
Act No. 9372.”“The Court of Appeals shall act on the
application to inquire into or examine any deposit or investment with
any banking institution or non-bank financial institution within
twenty-four (24) hours from filing of the application.”“To
ensure compliance with this Act, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may, in
the course of a periodic or special examination, check the compliance
of a Covered institution with the requirements of the AMLA and its
implementing rules and regulations.”“For purposes of this
section, ‘related accounts’ shall refer to accounts, the funds and
sources of which originated from and/or are materially linked to the
monetary instrument(s) or property(ies) subject of the freeze order(s).”“A court order ex parte must first be obtained before the AMLC can inquire into these related Accounts: Provided, That the procedure for the ex parte application of the ex parte court order for the principal account shall be the same with that of the related accounts.”
“The
authority to inquire into or examine the main account and the related
accounts shall comply with the requirements of Article III, Sections 2
and 3 of the 1987 Constitution, which are hereby incorporated by
reference.”
SEC. 3. Separability Clause. – If any
provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance is held to be void, or unconstitutional, any other
provision not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.
SEC. 4. Repealing Clause. –
All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts
thereof as are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended
or modified accordingly: Provided, That the penal provisions shall not apply to acts done prior to the effectivity of the AMLA on October 17, 2001 .
SEC. 5. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
President of the Senate
This
Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 3009 and House Bill No.
4275 was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives
on June 6, 2012 .
Secretary General
House of Representatives
Secretary of the Senate
Approved:
(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III
President of the Philippines