The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has two priority legislative measures included in the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council’s list of priority legislations approved by the President for the 19th Congress.
Amendments to the Bank Deposits Secrecy Law. The Bank Deposits Secrecy Law is a legislative measure that seeks to address the unintended consequences of bank deposit laws’ secrecy, which create barriers to the effective investigation of corrupt or illegal financial actions of stockholders, owners, directors, trustees, officers, or employees of entities subject to the BSP’s supervision.
Granting the BSP’s limited authority to examine the deposits of key individuals in supervised entities would address concerns from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund regarding the restrictive bank secrecy laws in the Philippines. This change would enhance the BSP’s ability to combat financial crimes such as tax evasion and money laundering, foster supportive international relations, and align with global transparency standards.
Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act. The Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) is a major penal legislation that will promote and maintain the integrity of financial accounts and the financial system. It seeks to promote awareness of the proper use of financial accounts and protect the public from cybercriminals and criminal syndicates who target financial accounts and lure account owners into becoming accessories or perpetrators of fraudulent activities. It addresses the increasing number of cases involving financial cybercrimes committed through the abuse of information technology and its derivatives.
The AFASA penalizes the punishable acts of money muling, social engineering schemes, such as phishing, vishing, and smishing, and other offenses involving financial accounts. It likewise allows the BSP to aid in the investigation of the law enforcement agencies in tracing the persons involved in the commission of the punishable acts under the law. It empowers the BSP to legally require financial institutions under its jurisdiction to provide and adopt adequate risk and fraud management systems in their operations that will ensure the protection of their clients’ financial accounts.