THE chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions has asked Congress to expedite approval of a bill granting supplementary powers to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to boost enforcement of international best practices in banking supervision through amendments in the BSP charter.

Additional authority is also sought for the Monetary Board “to better regulate the local financial sector” in the same remedial legislation being fine-tuned by the banks committee, which is chaired by Sen. Edgardo Angara.

As proposed by Angara, the bill would clothe the BSP with full authority to ask for relevant data not only from government entities but also from any individual. This way, Angara said, the Bangko Sentral “can evaluate and determine the financial condition not only of the parent institution under its supervision but also of its subsidiaries and affiliates.”

Angara added that Bangko Sentral authorities must have the right to approve transfers or acquisitions of shares in a supervised institution “where such transfer, or acquisition, or series of transfers or acquisitions, should be sufficient to elect at least one seat in the board” or would effect a change in the majority ownership or control of the voting stock of the institution.

The bill also seeks to grant the Monetary Board the authority to “direct existing stockholders to infuse additional capital or, in case of their inability or refusal, to direct them to accept new investors or merge or consolidate with a qualified financial institution.” 

Angara said the remedial legislation also sought to prescribe “additional and transparent” grounds for bank shutdowns, announcement of unilateral closures, suspension of payments of deposit substitutes or grounds for inability to pay liabilities as they become due to enable the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to recover their payouts for insured deposits.

MADRID, Spain—If the Philippines wants to avoid the financial risks brought about by high capital inflows, the peso should be allowed to be more flexible and interventions must be muted, according to a new policy brief by the Tokyo-based Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).

AFTER the merger of Philippine National Bank (PNB) with Allied Bank, both owned by the Lucio Tan Group of Companies, the pace of consolidation will likely slow down but not stop, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.

THE chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions has asked Congress to expedite approval of a bill granting supplementary powers to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to boost enforcement of international best practices in banking supervision through amendments in the BSP charter.

UNION Bank of the Philippines reported a profit dive for the first three months of the year, but said it was the company’s “deliberate strategy to mitigate the downside implications of negative market environment.”