Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Implements New Reporting Guidelines and Penalty Provisions for Foreign Exchange (FX) Transactions

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas  has approved further amendments to FX regulations to allow the BSP to gather more accurate and relevant information on FX transactions to promote and maintain price stability and ensure financial stability and effective supervision of banks.

​The amended guidelines will facilitate timely submission of reports by banks in accordance with the BSP’s reporting standards and instill accountability among BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs) and/or their Directors/Trustees, Officers and/or Employees (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. The aforesaid amendments are in line with previous BSP issuances on reporting guidelines and penalty provisions.

The major amendments include, among others, the following:

1. Defined reports that are non-compliant with the BSP reporting standards (i.e., erroneous, delayed, unsubmitted) under the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions, as amended;

2. ​Revised monetary penalties for reporting violations based on reporting entities and classification of report (i.e., primary and secondary);

3. Set a maximum monetary penalty of PHP1,000,000 for each transactional violation or PHP100,000 per calendar day for violations of a continuing nature pursuant to Section 37 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7653, as amended by Section 19 of R.A. No. 11211; and

​​​4. Explicitly provided the process for: (a) notifying the concerned BSFI and/or its DTOE of the FX policy violation and the corresponding amount of monetary penalty; and (b) 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 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. Meanwhile, reporting entities are provided a transitory period until December 31, 2024 to make the necessary preparations and adjustments to their systems and processes.