BSP mulls supervision over money changers

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is seriously considering putting the country’s money changers back under its control and supervision.

BSP Deputy Governor Alberto V. Reyes said that the Monetary Board, the policy making body of the central bank, recently called for a review of the operations of money changers, some 200 of them nationwide.

Currently, these money changers are not regulated by any government body or agency since the central bank relinquished control of the industry for about two decades now.

The review was sought as part of a new directive from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that is demanding cooperation from countries like the Philippines in its bid to stop rampant global money laundering.

Previously, the FATF kept the Philippines in its list of so-called money-laudering havens used by criminals and the like to legitimize proceeds coming from illegal or criminal activities such as drug-trafficking.

Reyes said the BSP charter allows it to regulate the activities of money changers but still wants to know if this was enough legal basis.

The flow of foreign exchange in and out of the country has been deregulated since 1983.

Reyes said the supervision of money changers could be limited to monitoring or licensing or in mandating the industry to keep a required capital just like banks.

He said the monitoring could also be confined to the bigger players in the industry. He said that out of the more than 200 establishments in the country, only about 20 can be considered big players.

The country’s Anti-Money Laundering Law was passed last October and while the central bank has a critical role to play, it is prevented from investigating deposit accounts in the country’s foreign currency deposit units. (FCDUs).