Bank secrecy lifting ‘urgent’
Lifting of the bank secrecy law was expected to happen soon as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) supports the proposed bill on it, which could be certified urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte for its speedy passage.
BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the bank deposits secrecy bill will improve the BSP’s oversight of financial institutions and promote the safety and soundness of the financial system.
The International Monetary Fund in a recent report indicated that the Philippines remain at risk in being included in the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force against money laundering due to the tough secrecy law.
“The proposed reforms will place the country’s deposit secrecy law at par with international standards. This is seen to strengthen the Filipino public’s and the global community’s trust in our banking system,” Diokno said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
“We expect this bill to be acted upon maybe as early as when they open the Congress sometime in May. This bill is actually urgent and we expect the President to certify this as (an) urgent measure,” he added.
Reform badly needed
According to him, the Philippines was the only country with deposit secrecy laws hence, the need for reforms to keep up with international standards.
“This reform is seen to ultimately benefit depositors as the BSP will have strengthened capacity to protect them from losses due to fraud and other unlawful activities,” the BSP chief explained.
The central bank recommended amendments to the Secrecy of Bank Deposits Law to be limited within the confines of BSP’s banking supervision and its investigation of closed banks.
Likewise, the BSP proposed the inclusion of provisions to protect banks against frivolous suits from depositors in line with the banking regulator’s inquiry or examinations of deposits and against the use of law for persecution or to hamper competition in trade or commerce.
The BSP’s version of the bill was approved on its first reading by the House of Representatives Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on 26 February 2021.