MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Monetary Board has approved further amendments to foreign exchange (FX) regulations.
The amendments were detailed in BSP's Memorandum Circular 1197 issued on July 12 this year.
The BSP said the major amendments include the revised monetary penalties for reporting violations based on reporting entities and classification of report.
It also defined reports that are non-compliant with the BSP reporting standards.
These are classified into erroneous, delayed, unsubmitted under the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions.
The amendments also set a maximum monetary penalty of PHP1 million for each transactional violation or PHP100,000 per calendar day for violations of a continuing nature.
According to the BSP, the amendments also provided the process for notifying the concerned BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs) and/or its Directors/Trustees, Officers and/or Employees (DTOEs) of the FX policy violation and the corresponding amount of monetary penalty, and appeal or request for reconsideration.
"Moreover, to ensure fairness, consistency, and reasonableness in monetary or non-monetary penalty imposition, the BSP takes into consideration its general principles, categories of enforcement actions, observance of due process, and attendant circumstances of each case," the BSP said.
The BSP said the amended guidelines will facilitate timely submission of reports by banks in accordance with the BSP’s reporting standards and instill accountability among BSFIs and/or their DTOEs.
"These regulations will likewise enable the BSP to efficiently generate reports being used for policy studies and monitoring of the economy and financial system, among others," it said.
The implementing circular will take effect 15 banking days after its publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.
Reporting entities are provided a transitory period until end of this year to make the necessary preparations and adjustments to their systems and processes. (PNA)
