BPI tie-up with Westpac above board–executive
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has expressed confidence that it will not be sanctioned, as it did nothing wrong in their recent partnership with Westpac Banking Corp.’s remittance arm.
Toward the end of 2019, LitePay— Westpac Banking Corp.’s remittance arm—became embroiled in a money laundering scandal in Australia. LitePay had tie-ups with local banks, including BPI.
“BPI has complied with all AML [anti-money laundering] standard. We are confident where we are [and], where we are is a place where we are not going to be faulted for shortcoming,” BPI executive Vice President and Corporate Banking head Juan Carlos L. Syquia said during a roundtable with the BusinessMirror reporters on Tuesday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier said it is still conducting an investigation into the matter and expressed openness to be in touch with Australian monetary officials.
“Our responsibility on the back end, or receiving end, is to make sure we have done due diligence of the final end—those which are BPI’s client. here we did our part in this,” Syquia said.
“I am certain within the Philippine context banks have done their
part but I cannot speak for them,” he added.
Philippine banks’ involvement in global money-laundering schemes is not new in the industry.
It was in 2016 when a cross-border electronic heist made headlines, as hackers were able to steal $81 million of Bangladesh Bank’s funds, funds that were deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The stolen money eventually found its way into the Philippines through accounts in the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), where much of it was withdrawn and disappeared into the country’s casino sector.
In mid-2016, following investigation and processing of the issue, the
BSP sanctioned RCBC with P1 billion in fines—the largest amount ever to be imposed as a fine for a banking institution in the Philippines.
The incident also prompted officials to include the gaming houses in the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s coverage and in 2018, President Duterte signed into law Republic Act 10927, effectively designating casinos as covered entities under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
In addition to that, a report titled “The True Cost of Compliance 2019,” by global business and risk management research firm LexisNexis said the cost of AML compliance in the Philippines rose after the infamous heist.