In reaction to the country’s recent inclusion to the grey list of Paris-based dirty money watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF), CIBAC Party-List lawmaker House Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva called on Congress to immediately pass the bill which seeks to amend the decades-old bank secrecy law.

House Bill 8991 seeks to amend Republic Act 1405, otherwise known as “The Secrecy of Bank Deposits” law, by promoting transparent governance and installing anti-corruption mechanisms in the operation of banks. The proposed bill specifically authorizes the Bangko ng Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to inquire into or examine bank deposits in the course of its investigation of closed banks, in such instances when there is reasonable ground to believe that fraud, serious irregularity, or unlawful activity has been committed.

“With the rapid technological advancement in our banking sector, we should now amend our existing bank secrecy law to give powers to the BSP to inquire into the nature of bank deposits to prevent corruption, money-laundering and even terrorist financing. Our existing legal framework not only benefits and encourages those unscrupulous individuals to use the confidentiality of bank deposits as cloak for their fraudulent acts, it also damages the integrity of our country in the international financial markets. This weakness discourages foreign investment in the Philippines and increases the cost of cross border business transactions,” Deputy Speaker Villanueva explained.

“It will also undermine the reforms we have put in place. We cannot allow this. This should stop. Congress should immediately pass the amendment to the bank secrecy law. This is an important step to boosting investor and business confidence in the economy,” the CIBAC lawmaker concluded.