The powerful Financial Action Task Force on money laundering maintained the Philippines on the so-called gray list of nations under “increased monitoring.”

The designation meant the country failed to meet FATF targets to comply with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-backed watchdog’s requirements.

In a statement, FATF said, “The Philippines has taken steps towards improving its anti-money laundering and CFT regime, including by identifying and investigating TF (terrorism financing) cases.”

Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed agencies to take actions needed to remove the Philippines from the FATF list.

The list consists of countries with weak measures against the aforementioned illegal activities.

The FATF included the Philippines in the list in June 2021.