MANILA – Philippines’ and Singapore’s monetary authorities have agreed to strengthen data connectivity tie-up to address issues involving the financial sector.
In a joint statement Monday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said they have agreed on greater information sharing to further improve consumer services, address cybercrimes, and help regulators craft policies.
It said the central banks “recognise that the ability to aggregate, store, process, and transmit data across borders is critical to the development of the financial sector”.
The statement said expanding use of data in financial services and the increasing use of technology to supply financial services offer a range of benefits, including greater consumer choice, enhanced risk management capabilities, and increased efficiency.
It, however, said these developments also pose new and complex risks for markets and challenges for policymakers and regulators.
“BSP and MAS are committed to working together and with other countries and authorities to promote an environment in financial services that fosters the development of the global economy,” it said.
The statement said data localization requirements can increase cybersecurity and other operational risks, hinder risk management and compliance, and inhibit financial regulatory and supervisory access to data.
“Data mobility in financial services supports economic growth and the development of innovative financial services, and benefits risk management and compliance programs, by, amongst others, making it easier to detect cross-border money laundering, terrorist financing patterns, and proliferation financing; defend against cyberattacks; and manage and assess risk on a global basis,” it said.
The two central banks thus agreed to promote the adoption and implementation of policies and rules that facilitate these goals with respect to the operation of banks and non-bank financial institutions falling within the jurisdiction of either BSP or MAS.
Under this agreement, central bank-regulated entities “should be allowed to transfer data, including personal information, across borders by electronic means provided this activity is for the conduct of the business within the scope of their license, authorisation, or registration”.
There will be no restrictions on where the covered institutions can store and process their data “as long as BSP and MAS have full and timely access to the data necessary to fulfill their regulatory and supervisory mandate”.
The statement added that if either central bank is unable to access the regulated firms’ data, “covered institutions should have the opportunity to remediate such lack of access before being required to use or locate computing facilities locally”. (PNA)
