NCJ Number
229035
Date Published
December 2008
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper describes efforts by the Philippines to address corporate crime and the criminal liability of corporate entities.
Abstract
The Corporation Code of the Philippines became effective on May 1, 1980. It clarifies the obligations of corporate directors and officers and establishes principles and doctrines expressed in statutory language. In the Philippine setting, there are various penal laws that corporations may violate. The Supreme Court has held in numerous cases that when a criminal statute forbids the corporation itself from doing an act, the prohibition extends to the board of directors and to each director separately and individually. The Securities Regulation Code provides for administrative sanctions against a corporation. The Corporation Code states the criminal penalties for violations of the provisions of the code; the penalties include fines or imprisonment for not less than 30 days but not more than 5 years, or both. If the corporation commits a violation, it may be dissolved in appropriate proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission. One section of this paper focuses on the money laundering process and its stages. The Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 criminalizes money laundering and created a financial intelligence unit. It imposes requirements of customer identification, recordkeeping, and reporting of covered and suspicious transactions. A discussion of issues in the investigation of corporate crime addresses specialized investigative authorities and training for investigators, cooperation between investigative authorities, and the acquisition of information on money laundering. The discussion of prosecution issues also focuses on money laundering cases. The paper concludes with an overview of corporate crimes in the Philippines, including tax evasion, money laundering, fraud/swindling, foreign bribery, and large-scale pilferage. 8 references