The Central Bank of the Philippines’ Monetary Board approved rules of procedure enabling the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through its Consumer Account Protection Office (CAPO), to inquire into financial accounts suspected of being involved in prohibited acts under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) and to share resulting financial account information with designated “Competent Authorities.” The rules state that bank deposit secrecy, foreign currency deposit secrecy, and data privacy restrictions do not apply to financial accounts that are subject of a BSP investigation and inquiry under this framework. Information sharing is limited to Competent Authorities that have an executed, written, notarized information sharing agreement with the BSP, including specified authorized officers, dedicated official email accounts, and security controls for confidentiality, retention, and breach management. A Competent Authority initiates an inquiry by filing an under-oath request with supporting evidence; CAPO issues an Inquiry Order to the relevant BSP-supervised institution upon finding sufficient ground for a well-founded belief that a prohibited act was committed and that the account may have been used in it. Institutions must provide CAPO access and submit a “Return” with required information within 10 days of receiving the Inquiry Order, after which CAPO must email its response to the requesting authority within 10 days unless extended for meritorious reasons; the rules also impose non-disclosure requirements on institutions and set out notice-to-amend, denial, and reconsideration steps, with denial of reconsideration final and not appealable to the Governor or the Monetary Board. Institutions must register up to three authorized email accounts for CAPO communications within 30 days from the rules’ effectivity, and CAPO communications sent to registered emails are presumed received. The rules take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation and apply to requests filed after effectivity, provided the underlying prohibited act was committed after AFASA took effect.
Central Bank of the Philippines 2025-05-30
Central Bank of the Philippines issues procedures for scam-linked account inquiries and financial account information sharing under AFASA
The Central Bank of the Philippines' Monetary Board approved procedures for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to investigate accounts under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA). These rules allow sharing financial account information with designated Competent Authorities, bypassing bank secrecy and data privacy restrictions. Information sharing requires a notarized agreement with the BSP, and institutions must comply with inquiry orders and non-disclosure requirements.