The BSP was also faced with another serious problem during Buenaventura's term: the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) had in June 2000 designated the Philippines as a ‘non-cooperative country’. A spot on the FATF blacklist essentially meant that a country was a prime candidate for the laundering of dirty funds from criminal activities. This translated to higher transaction costs, and often, outright restrictions on the international transactions of Philippine banks to ensure that they did not involve dirty money.