BSP to slap sanctions on BDO, Union Bank for ‘Mark Nagoyo’ incidents

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday said it will impose sanctions on both BDO Unibank Inc. and the Union Bank of the Philippines following the unauthorized fund transfers reported in December 2021.

The BSP did not elaborate on the nature of the sanctions, but said that these will emphasize the need to continuously boost risk management systems, and take a proactive stance in the protection of depositors.

“This incident is a reminder that we should continue to enhance our defenses against cyberthreat actors to protect the integrity of the financial system and the interests of depositors,” BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said in an emailed statement.

Sought for comment, both companies said they will cooperate with the BSP to ensure that steps are taken to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“We will work with the BSP to ensure a more secure banking environment,” BDO said in a statement released via mobile message.

This was echoed by Union Bank, which said that it has implemented all the recommendations of the central bank to avoid such incidents, along with a commitment to boost its capital charge to “fortify” operations.

“We are one with the BSP in pushing for stronger measures from banks against such fraudulent activities, towards creating a more secure digital financial environment for all,” it said in a separate statement.

The decision comes after the central bank completed its investigation into incidents involving the unauthorized access of BDO accounts, and then transferring the funds mostly to Union Bank accounts said to be owned by a certain “Mark Nagoyo.”

The BSP in December traced up to four hackers behind the scheme, with two Nigerian nationals arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation in an operation in Pampanga.

The central bank earlier formed a task force to investigate the matter, with information that the incident involved a 10-year-old service of BDO which was due for phase-out early this year.

For its part, BDO has already started to reimburse close to 700 of its clients affected by the fraudulent transactions, but the full amount was not disclosed.

Shares in BDO closed Thursday up P4.20 or 3.27% at P132.60 apiece, while shares in Union Bank were down by 5 cents of 0.06% at P76.95 apiece. — BM, GMA News