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page 4

SEC. 13. Other Forfeiture Provisions.

(a) Claim on Forfeited Assets. - Where the court has issued an order of forfeiture of the monetary instrument or property in a criminal prosecution for any money laundering offense defined under Section 4 of this Act, the offender or any other person claiming an interest therein may apply, by verified petition, for a declaration that the same legitimately belongs to him and for segregation or exclusion of the monetary instrument or property corresponding thereto. The verified petition shall be filed with the court which rendered the judgment of conviction and order of forfeiture, within fifteen (15) days from the date of the order of forfeiture, in default of which the said order shall become final and executory.

(b) Payment in lieu of forfeiture. - Where the court has issued an order of forfeiture of the monetary instrument or property subject of a money laundering offense defined under Section 4, and said order cannot be enforced because any particular monetary instrument or property cannot, with due diligence, be located, or it has been substantially altered, destroyed, diminished in value or otherwise rendered worthless by any act or omission directly or indirectly attributable to the offender, or it has been concealed, removed, converted or otherwise transferred to prevent the same from being found or to avoid forfeiture thereof, or it is located outside the Philippines or has been placed or brought outside the jurisdiction of the court, or it has been commingled with other monetary instruments or property belonging to either the offender himself or a third person or entity, thereby rendering the same difficult to identify or be segregated for purposes of forfeiture, the court may, instead of enforcing the order of forfeiture of the monetary instrument or property or part thereof or interest therein, accordingly order the convicted offender to pay an amount equal to the value of said monetary instrument or property.

SEC. 14. Prevention of Money Laundering.

(a) Customer Identification Requirements. - When conducting any transaction, a covered institution shall establish and record the true identity of its clients based on official or other reliable documents and records. With respect to existing transactions, covered institutions shall also verify the true identity of their clients by updating, correction or otherwise reviewing their documents and records relating thereto. In case of corporate clients and other legal entities, covered institutions shall verify the legal existence and organizational structure of the client and verify the authority and identification of all persons purporting to act on its behalf. The provisions of existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, anonymous accounts, accounts under fictitious names, and all other similar accounts shall be absolutely prohibited. Numbered accounts shall also be prohibited, except in so far as allowed under R.A. No. 6426, as amended, otherwise known as the Foreign Currency Deposit System Act, provided that covered institutions shall record the true identity of holders of all such numbered accounts in official identifying documents. Any violation of this provision shall be punishable under Section 19 of this Act.

(b) Recordkeeping. - All necessary records of all transactions of covered institutions shall be maintained and safely stored for five (5) years from the dates thereof in forms prescribed by law. These records must be sufficient to permit reconstruction of individual transactions so as to provide, if necessary, evidence for prosecution of money laundering offenses under this Act. With respect to closed accounts, records on customer identification, account files and business correspondence, shall be preserved in forms prescribed by law and safely stored for five (5) years from the dates when they were closed. Any violation of this provision shall be punishable under Section 19.

(c) Reporting of Covered Transactions. - Covered institutions shall report to the Task Force all covered transactions within five (5) working days from occurrence thereof, unless the Task Force upon recommendation of the Supervising Authority prescribes a longer period not exceeding ten (10) working days. When reporting covered transactions to the Task Force, covered institutions and their officers, employees, representatives, agents, advisors, consultants or associates shall not be deemed to have violated R.A. No. 1405, as amended, R.A. No. 6426, as amended, R.A. No. 8791 and other similar laws, but are strictly prohibited from communicating, directly or indirectly, in any manner or by any means, to any person the fact that a covered transaction report was made, the contents thereof, or any other information in relation thereto; otherwise, the concerned officer, employee, representative, agent, advisor, consultant or associate of the covered institution, shall be criminally liable for a violation of this Act and punished under Section 19. No administrative, criminal or civil proceedings, shall lie against any person for having made a covered transaction report in the regular performance of his duties, whether or not such reporting results in any criminal prosecution under this Act or any other Philippine law. A person called upon to testify in court or any criminal investigation in connection with a money laundering offense under this Act shall be admitted to the witness protection, security and benefit program of the government under R.A. No. 6981, otherwise known as the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act.

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