BSP says UCPB accounts unaffected by reported cyberheist

Account holders of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) were not affected by a reported cyberheist where millions of pesos were supposedly stolen from the government-controlled lender.

In a statement sent to reporters via mobile message, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said investigations are already ongoing.

"The BSP is well-aware of the reported UCPB incident and has been in close coordination with the bank since the early part of its investigation," he said.

"Initial investigation results also indicate no financial losses or damages were incurred by UCPB account holders in this particular incident," he added.

UCPB reacts

For its part, UCPB echoed the BSP, as it assured that funds of clients are not affected by the incident, and the bank is working with the NBI to move forward with the investigation.

"The Bank would like to assure its stakeholders that clients' funds were not affected by the incident and that security measures have been implemented to avoid recurrence of the June incident," UCPB said in a statement sent by senior vice president Ildefonso Jimenez via mobile message.

"In order not to prejudice NBI's ongoing criminal investigation or the internal investigation by UCPB and government regulators, the Bank declines to give further details of the cybersecurity incident," the statement added.

According to Jimenez, the bank remains to be a "strong and profitable institution" after it reported a net income of P2.9 billion in the first six months of 2020.

Business website Bilyonaryo.com, citing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), earlier reported that Nigerian hackers emptied ATMs of UCPB.

"UCPB is undertaking the necessary remedial measures to heighten cybersecurity, including collaborating with the NBI for the investigation and eventual prosecution of the suspected criminals," said Diokno.

UCPB is the 13th largest bank in the Philippines as of March 31, 2020 in terms of assets, with P328.520 billion.

"We remain steadfast in fully resolving the matter as we work closely with the bank and relevant law enforcement agency," said Diokno.

"Rest assured, in pursuit of our cybersecurity agenda, we continue to collaborate and engage the BSP Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs) to ensure the safety and integrity of the financial system as well as the protection of the financial consumers," he added.

To recall, another Philippine bank -- the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) -- was tagged in the $81-billion cyberheist from the Bangladesh Bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2016.

The Monetary Board of the BSP slapped a P1-billion fine against the lender in relation to the stolen funds. — RSJ, GMA News