Major organizations in the real estate industry have sought the help of the House of Representatives to ease the process of registration at the Anti-Money Laundering Council pursuant to the
Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.

Real estate practitioners in the country, such as brokers and developers, are mandated by the AMLA, which was recently amended by Republic Act 11521 to be registered as covered persons or CPs under the anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing regime.

Registration with AMLC will enable CPs to electronically submit their reportable transactions through the AMLC Portal.

The process also mandates compliance officers or CO to create a key identification under their name by using the GPG4Win Kleopatra Software (for Windows) or GPG Suite (for MacOS) to be exported and likewise attached to the online registration system, while alternate officers' registration in the AMLC and creation of public key is optional.

The groups who sought the tweaking of the process include the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Inc., National Real Estate Association, Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines Inc., and Chamber of Real Estate and Builders' Associations.

During their meeting with NREA chairperson emerita and One Filipino Worldwide Partylist Representative Marissa Del Mar-Magsino, they wanted the processes to be eased in order for them to perform their duties.

Further, the group irked the process for CPs regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Insurance Commission and for land-based casinos.

The said process needs a notarized secretary certificate or board/partnership resolution showing the compliance officer's designation or certificate of associated persons for APs of brokerage companies, or Department of Trade and Industry Certificate for Pawnshops/Money Service Businesses registered as single Proprietorship as well as a document, notarized and signed by the owner designating the compliance officer if the CO is not the owner of the PS/MSB.

Besides this, supporting documents for registration include the most recent Articles of Incorporation and General Information Sheet from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Certificate of Registration from the DTI; or proof of registration with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA); Real Estate Brokers' Certificate of Registration or License from the Professional Regulation Commission; Notarized Deeds of Undertaking of the entity, signed by the proprietor/partners/president/directors (Annexes B and C, to the 2021 AML/CFT Guidelines for DNFBPs); and a Notarized Board resolution or Certificate of designation as Compliance Officer, among others.