BSP's Espenilla wants more foreign competition in PHL

Incoming Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. is keen on opening up the Philippine financial system to more foreign  competition.

In a briefing, Espenilla said the Philippines was to finalize negotiations with Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"We expect to see a couple of these enter and evolve to what's considered as a Qualified ASEAN Bank (QAB)," he told reporters in Manila City.

In line with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Banking Integration Framework (ABIF), the BSP defines QAB as “strong and well-managed banks, headquartered in ASEAN and majority owned by ASEAN nationals.”

The ABIF dictates the underlying principles governing QABs , ensuring that they meet global banking standards as well as the prudential regulations of both the host and home countries.

The ABIF enjoins each ASEAN-5 country – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – to hammer out at least one bilateral agreement with another ASEAN-5 country by 2018.

"We have the bilateral framework with Malaysia, we are set to begin bilateral negotiations with Indonesia. These are already the big players of the ASEAN region," Espenilla said.

The BSP earlier signed a bilateral agreement with the Bank Negara Malaysia to allow the entry of QABs between the two countries.

It also inked a letter of intent with the Bank of Thailand to start bilateral talks on opening their respective banking industries to each other.

Espenilla currently heads the BSP Supervision and Examination Sector, and is scheduled to take over as BSP governor when Amando M. Tetangco Jr. retires on July 2. — VDS, GMA News