BSP poises sanctions on banks for security lapses

Security lapses by banks prompted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to examine their systems as early as six months ago and require them to upgrade or face sanctions for failure to comply.

Banking sources said that the BSP has threatened to impose stiff sanctions on banks that fail to comply with the directive to upgrade the surveillance and security systems of their branches nationwide.

According to bankers, banks and all their branches have been under a quiet examination by the BSP which has been evaluating their surveillance system in an attempt to identify breaches that could easily be exploited by professional bank robbers.

Banking sources said it is standard procedure to report any robbery to the BSP within 24 hours of the incident. Banks are also required to submit a more comprehensive report later, usually culled from the investigation of the Philippine National Police, the bank’s own internal security and its insurance company which conducts its own independent investigation.

According to sources, the recent incident at the high-tech Citibank Center in Makati had prompted the BSP to upgrade their surveillance and security systems.

"There were security cameras positioned around the facility but the robbers knew where they were and when they walked in, they opened umbrellas to conceal themselves," the source said.

The source said that the operation was so well orchestrated that the entire incident took no more than three minutes. By the time anyone had the wit to alert police authorities, the entire robber band had already fled.

According to the source, the BSP had suspected that cash was not the primary motivation for the robbery because the amount taken from Citibank was "too small to compare with previous robberies where the objective was to get cash."

"I think even the BSP suspects that the Citibank incident was specifically meant to embarrass the government and cause more disruption to the market," the source said.