Espenilla wants sharper regulatory teeth for BSP

Central bank Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. on Wednesday emphasized the need to sharpen the teeth of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) against possible money laundering threats.

"Amend anti-money laundering laws to strengthen the BSP's authority to look into deposits when checking anti-money laundering compliance," he said.

The central bank wants the bank deposit bank deposit secrecy law relaxed.

"BSP endorses amendment of the law on bank deposits," he said before the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) in Makati City.

In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year, President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants the bank secrecy law, said to be among the strictest in the world, to be relaxed.

Early this month, Senator Francis Escudero said moves to relax Republic Acts 1405 and 6426, which protect local and foreign currency deposits, respectively, from scrutiny, have yet to be enacted into law.

Escudero, who chairs the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said the proposal to amend the law is now being circulated to gather signatures.

Espenilla noted there should be stricter penalties for those found guilty of violating The Anti-Money Laundering Act.

"Increase amount of administrative penalties for anti-money laundering violations," he said, but did not elaborate.

Those who violate the AMLA face prison sentences of six months to 14 years, and fines of P100,000 to P3 million.

Espenilla also called for amendments to the BSP Charter and higher central bank capitalization. "The economic and financial landscape here, as well as overseas, have changed significantly," he said.

"These will enable the BSP to formulate and implement even better and more timely policies and programs to achieve price stability and other important objectives," he he said.

The amendments will help widen the scope of BSP authority to supervise foreign exchange dealers and money changers, and enable the BSP to extract data and other information from non-BSP supervised financial institutions.

"A stronger BSP will translate to a more stable and resilient macroeconomy," he added. — VDS, GMA News