Study Notes: AMLC Regulatory Issuance No. 2 Series of 2024 (GoTRACS)

Official Title: These guidelines are known as the Guidelines on Transaction Reporting and Compliance Submissions (GoTRACS).
Purpose: Promulgated based on RA No. 9160 (AMLA) and RA No. 10927 (CIIR) to provide Covered Persons (CPs) with specific instructions for transaction reporting and the submission of compliance documents.

Account: Refers to bank, electronic money, investment, insurance, or membership accounts where funds or monetary instruments are held by a CP for a customer.
Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC): The Philippines' central AML/CTF authority and financial intelligence unit (FIU).
Beneficial Owner (BO): Any natural person who ultimately owns or controls a customer/juridical person, or owns at least $20\%$ shares/equity.
Covered Transaction:
- Cash/equivalent exceeding $P500,000.00$ .
- Jewelry dealers/precious metals/stones exceeding $P1,000,000.00$ .
- Real estate developers/brokers exceeding $P7,500,000.00$ .
- Casino cash transactions exceeding $P5,000,000.00$ .
File Transfer and Reporting Facility (FTRF): The AMLC Portal located at https://portal.amlc.gov.ph.
Suspicion: A person's state of mind considering the possibility of suspicious circumstances based on skills, experience, and customer profile.
Suspicious Transaction (ST): A transaction, regardless of amount, where any suspicious circumstance exists.
Transactor: A person other than the accountholder who transacts business with a CP.

CPs are categorized into three main supervisory groups and DNFBPs:

BSP Supervised: Banks, quasi-banks, trust entities, pawnshops, e-money issuers, FX dealers, and remittance companies.
IC Supervised: Insurance, pre-need, and reinsurance companies/agents/brokers, mutual benefit associations.
SEC Supervised: Securities dealers, brokers, investment houses, mutual funds, and derivative dealers.
DNFBPs: Jewelry dealers, company service providers, lawyers/accountants (specific services), Casinos (internet and ship-based), Real Estate Brokers/Developers, and Offshore Gaming Operators (OGOs).

Timeline: Reports must be filed within five (5) working days from occurrence.
Reporting Threshold: Late submission is any time after 11:59:59 pm on the 5th working day.
Scope: All CPs (except Casinos and Real Estate) report all modes (check, debit, credit). Casinos and Real Estate report cash transactions only.

General Rule: Filed within one (1) working day from "occurrence" (establishment of suspicion).
Determination Periods:
1. Standard Suspicious Circumstances: Within $10$ calendar days from the transaction/determination date.
2. Unlawful Activity Related: Within $60$ calendar days.
3. AMLC Referrals: Within $10$ days (if unlawful activity identified) or $60$ days (if not identified).
4. High Priority Predicate Crimes (STRHP): Report the next working day for Terrorism (PC13), Terrorism Financing (PC14), Trafficking (PC19), and OSAEC/CSAEM (PC31).
5. Highly Unusual/Suspicious (STRHU): Reported next working day for immediate threats, Sanctions list matches, or accounts previously subject to freeze orders.
6. Targeted Financial Sanctions (TFS): Filed on the same day a freeze is implemented (Trigger Code G).
STR - Bulk Report (BSFIs only): Used for fraud-related transactions (skimmed cards, identity theft) where the perpetrator is unknown and victims are natural persons.

Exclusions: Weekends, regular holidays, and officially declared non-working days where AMLC is located.
System Downtime: Reporting is suspended if FTRF is inaccessible for at least $4$ consecutive hours (starting 8:00 AM) or any time after 7:00 PM if not resolved within $1$ hour.

Reporting is deferred for proprietary/internal transactions including:

BSFIs: Transactions with BSP; bank-to-bank proprietary transactions; internal operating expenses ( $OPEX$ ); fund transfers between accounts of the same person; time deposit roll-overs (without additional funds).
Insurance: Mutual Benefit Association basic benefits; Group Life/Hospitalization; bulk claims where individual claims are below $P500,000.00$ .
DNFBPs/Casinos: Internal $OPEX$ and capital expenditures booked as such.

File Type: Comma Separated Variable (CSV).
Record Structure:
- Header (H): Identifies CP and branch.
- Detail (D): The actual transaction data (CTR/STR).
- Trailer (T): End of file and record count.
Submission Types:
- A (Add): New report.
- E (Edit): Amend erroneous fields (except Institution Code, Date, and Reference No).
- D (Delete): Permanently remove a successful upload (requires email justification).
- T (Test): For system testing only.

Virtual Assets: Must include Transaction Amount in PHP ( $D-TD-6$ ), FX ( $D-TD-7$ ), and Wallet Addresses in the account field ( $D-A-8$ ).
Loans: Initial release is reported based on the Approved Loan Amount ( $D-CAF-3$ ), even if the first release is below the threshold.
Insurance: Initial payments are reported as NREC. Once the policy is issued, CTRs use the regular annualized premium to determine the threshold.
Casinos: Junket players are "Account Holders" (Party A); Junket Operators are "Other Participants" (Party P).

KYC Documents: Mandatory for STRs involving Kidnapping, Drugs, Corruption, Terrorism, and Trafficking.
Electronic Statement of Account (ESOA): Must cover the past five (5) years.
Beneficial Ownership (BO): Mandatory for Juridical Persons (Name Flag J). Data entry uses the BO Excel Template (Annex P).

Penalties: Failure to comply leads to administrative sanctions under RPAC and potential criminal liability for Money Laundering.
Transitory Provision: Full implementation of GoTRACS occurs within $1$ to years from effectivity (December 2024).
Separability/Repealing: Invalidity of one provision does not affect others; 2021 ARRG is repealed.