The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has proposed new rules requiring participants in the Peso Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) Payment System to immediately report cyberattacks and other disruptive incidents, introducing alternative settlement mechanisms to ensure continuous transaction processing.
Under a draft circular, participants should officially communicate to the central bank any incidents that remain unresolved within two hours of occurrence.
To maintain continuous settlements during such disruptions, banks and other financial institutions have several options. They may enter into bilateral netting arrangements with their counterparties, provided they have a formal agreement in place beforehand. Alternatively, institutions can designate a paying agent to execute their transactions through the PhilPaSS plus system.
Financial market infrastructures (FMIs) and clearing switch operators (CSOs) can also apply for multilateral netting arrangements with their participants, which results in a single net position for each participant.
The BSP’s business continuity plan (BCP) offers further options. If a participant cannot connect or send payment messages despite the PhilPaSS plus being operational, they can upload transactions at the nearest BSP facility. If the participant cannot reach the BSP facility for valid reasons, they have the on-behalf uploading option.
If the PhilPaSS plus system is not operational, the payments and settlements department (PSD) will issue an advisory and instruct participants to upload password-protected transaction files to a secure BSP cloud storage facility as an alternative settlement method.
The BSP said it is accepting feedback on the draft circular until Dec. 12, 2025.
