The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has teamed up with its United States counterpart, as well as the Asian Development Bank to crack down on criminals using cryptocurrencies to commit fraud and other financial crimes.
According to a Sept. 15 press release, the three institutions conducted an International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Investigation and Enforcement Training workshop last month, in a bid to upskill their combined fraud and scam prevention toolkit when it came to crypto-related crimes.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Philippines collaborating with international organizations to further its mandate of protecting the public from securities fraud and other forms of investment scams.
Philippine SEC Chair, Emilio B. Aquino said the workshop aimed to “strengthen the capability of the SEC Philippines’ enforcement personnel in conducting investigations on securities-related crimes like insider trading, market manipulation, off-market fraud and crypto scams.”
In addition to the workshop, the Philippine SEC signed the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding on crypto crime. The regulator also looked to local lawmakers to bolster its enforcement powers by crafting new laws that adhere to the standards set by IOSCO.
The alliance between the organizations marks a step forward for the Philippines when it comes to the oversight of digital assets in the country.
Despite this, the country remains an attractive destination for crypto and is still widely regarded as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with over 11.6 million Filipinos owning digital assets, placing it in 10th spot worldwide when it comes to crypto adoption.
Age limits are set to be imposed for the first time on when children can be taught sex education, according to reports.
Under the proposals, schools will be told not to teach children any form of sex education until year 5, when pupils are aged nine.
Other measures due to be announced by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will prevent children from being taught they can change their gender, and rules out any explicit sexual conversations until the age of 13, according to The Times newspaper.
Thirteen would also be the age threshold for pupils to be taught about contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and abortion.
The new guidance is reportedly part of the Government’s response to concerns children are receiving age-inappropriate relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).
The Times reported that schools will be required to provide parents with samples of the material their children will be taught.
RSHE became compulsory in all English schools in September 2020.
The existing guidance outlines broad lesson modules, stating primary school children should be taught about alternative types of families and healthy relationships.
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Secondary school aged children are taught more complex topics, including puberty, sexual relationships, consent, unsafe relationships, and online harms.
The Department for Education said it could not confirm the newspaper reports, and that it would not speculate on leaks.