No bank sought BSP support since pandemic

by Lee C. Chipongian, Manila Bulletin

Not a single bank applied for financial assistance since the pandemic began in 2020, according to the central bank’s highest-ranking official.

“No bank needed financial assistance,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe M. Medalla told Manila Bulletin.

Medalla is referring to all banks — the big banks or the universal and commercial banks, the medium-sized thrift banks, and the small rural banks supervised by the BSP.

He said banks remain adequately well-capitalized with enough liquidity and buffers even as non-performing loans (NPLs) and non-performing assets (NPAs) rose in the last two years. NPLs are unpaid loans for more than 30 days while NPAs are loans in default.

The BSP has remedial measures to help solvent banks resolve temporary liquidity problems from “causes beyond their control” such as the pandemic. It extends fully-secured emergency loans to banks as financial assistance.

Medalla confirmed that no bank has approached the BSP for financial support because of the public health crisis and its resulting mobility restrictions which impacted on borrowers’ capacity to pay loans.

During the lockdowns, especially in 2020 and the middle part of 2021, business operations were stalled and jobs were lost. Banks had limited activities but it was business as usual for majority of financial institutions via digital means.

“Universal and commercial banks have more than adequate capitalization,” said Medalla.

Based on the BSP Charter, the BSP’s financial assistance to banking institutions is limited to the amount needed by the applicant bank to overcome the emergency or financial predicament but should not exceed 50 percent of its deposits and deposit substitutes. In addition, any emergency advance will be collateralized by government securities and other unencumbered first-class collaterals such as real estate.

As for the rural banks, Medalla said the BSP will soon launch the Rural Bank Strengthening Program (RBSP) which is aimed at assisting small banks hit by the pandemic.

The RBSP, which will replace the Consolidation Program for Rural Banks, will be implemented for three years. It is described as a structured program with four key elements: strengthened capital base; holistic menu of five time-bound tracks; incentives and capacity building interventions; and review and enhancements of existing regulations. These five time-bound tracks are merger and consolidation, acquisition/third party investment, voluntary exit/upgrade of license, capital build-up, and supervisory intervention.

Under RBSP, the BSP wants at least P60 million minimum capital requirement for rural banks. For rural banks with more than five branches, the minimum capital should be P200 million.

Meanwhile, the central bank recently circulated a proposed circular for banks’ guidelines for crafting their recovery plans. Basically, the BSP wants all banks to report within 24 hours if triggers in their recovery plans are breached and to activate recovery measures within three days.

The recovery plans of banks are expected to be commensurate to their size, nature and complexity of operations, overall risk profile, and systemic importance.

Once the circular is approved, banks will submit a recovery plan every June 30. Banks have until July 15 to post feedback or suggestions to the BSP on the guidelines of the recovery plans.

Since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, the BSP closed the operations of 21 rural banks while two rural banks voluntarily surrendered their banking licenses.

As of end-May this year, the BSP is supervising 498 banks, of which 45 are big banks which control over 90 percent of total banking resources. There are currently 43 thrift banks, 383 rural banks and 24 cooperative banks.

The banking sector’s NPL ratio has dropped to a 17-month low of 3.75 percent as of end-May while gross NPLs fell to P429.11 billion in May versus P447.44 billion in April. NPAs also decreased to P550 billion from P568.86 billion previously.

As of end-March, the BSP’s loans and advances amounted to P422 billion, lower compared to same period in 2021 of P665.4 billion and slightly up from the start of 2022 of P421.82 billion. These loans and advances include rediscounting loans and overdraft credit lines.

“The BSP extends discounts, loans and advances to banking institutions in order to influence the volume of credit consistent with objective of price stability and maintenance of financial stability. It also grants loans or advances to banking institutions in precarious financial condition or under serious financial pressures, subject to certain conditions,” said the BSP.

Which is the fake P1,000 bill?

 

by Jane Kingsu-Cheng, Manila Bulletin

Makeup artist, microblading guru, and now i’Milky milk tea shop owner Barbi Chan recently shared a photo of two P1,000 bills. In her Facebook post, she asked her friends to figure out which of the two bills that she posted is fake.

“We got scammed again with a fake P1,000 bill. Guys, be careful kasi super galing na nila mameke. We even have a UV scanner and mayroon na din ang pekeng bill . We only found out in the bank,” she posted.

In an interview with Barbi, she shared with us that her staff goes to the bank on a daily basis to deposit the sales from i’Milky Eastwood branch for the day. The staff called Barbi to update her regarding one of the peso bills.

Confiscated

They couldn’t believe that these fake peso bills are getting better every time. It passed their UV scanners. “even the fake ones have the UV reflective fibers already.” says Barbi who added that they bank took the fake bill and made them sign a currency confiscation receipt. So, in the end, they lost P1,000 worth of sales, because the bank didn’t accept the fake bill and confiscated it as well.

How to spot

“We noticed that the color of the seal of the real one is greener compared to the fake one. The fake one is more blue in color,” shares Barbi. “A friend who works at the anti fraud division of a bank told me that to check the authenticity of the bill, you can rub it against white sheet of paper and some pigment should come off. I tried it and it is really true. The fake one has no pigment at all.

Another rule she relayed to her staff, “Avoid accepting P1,000 peso-bills. Just tell them you don’t have change for it.”

 

Device found attached to ATM:

 ... Aliens tagged in skimming

By Christell Fatima M. Tudtud, Ermida Q. Moradas (The Freeman) 

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A photo of foreign-looking man believed to be responsible for skimming operation victimizing several depositors of the Land Bank of the Philippines is posted at the bank’s ATM booth. Paul Jun E. Rosaroso

CEBU, Philippines - An official from the Land Bank of the Philippines yesterday revealed that an unusual device had been found attached to the bank’s automated teller machine in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City that could have captured clients’ personal data and compromised the integrity of their accounts.

A syndicate operated by foreigners is now at the center of police investigation after surveillance cameras in the  the branch captured two suspicious foreign nationals seemingly installing something on the machine in the wee hours of the night.

The device was discovered on February 27 when bank workers inspected the branch’s ATM.

“They discovered that there was really an insertion. Duha ka insertion: sa card reader and the other one is a PIN (personal identification number) pad with a camera. May camera siya (ang ATM), pero it’s so sophisticated, di siya (insertion) madali’g ka-detect,” Manny Jose Mari Infante, LDP first vice president for Eastern and Central Visayas, told reporters yesterday.

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Following the discovery, Infante said the bank immediately blocked all registered accounts under the branch as a matter of security measure.

ATM cardholders were also advised to report and file a complaint with their main office.

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“Gi-block namo. That’s why daghan ang nag-approach sa amoa karon nga mga branches to ensure that their balances are okay. Kung wala, okay lang, we will lift the blocking but kung naa, they would immediately file (a complaint),” Infante said.

As of yesterday, Infante could not yet provide the number of accounts affected, saying the count is still ongoing. He said, though, that they have notified depositors whose contact details were available.

He also assured that clients whose accounts have been deducted without their knowledge will get refund after an anti-fraud committee in their main office in Manila has thoroughly evaluated their individual cases.

One way to avoid getting victimized by ATM skimming, he added, is to regularly change PIN.

Yesterday, a crowd of government workers that consisted of policemen, firemen, military personnel and teachers went to file their complaints at the bank’s branch on Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City.

They were among those who received a notification that their accounts have been temporary blocked for protection. Some of them also reported unauthorized withdrawals.

Infante pointed out that not all LBP ATM cardholders have been blocked, just those accounts in Banilad.

But other accounts may have also been blocked if cardholders have used them to transact with the branch’s ATM.

Such was the case of Cebu City Investigation, Detection and Management Branch chief Ryan Devaras, who told The FREEMAN that he lost P30,000 from his account after making a transaction in Banilad.

Devares, however, said he already had the incident reported.

Suspects foreigners?

Initial investigation showed that the modus could have been the brainchild of a syndicate of foreign nationals.

“We’re trying to collate and review our footages… I believe foreigners. I believe this is a syndicate,” said Infante, adding that the suspects were seen boarding a car and operating during dawn.

To alert the public, photos of two foreign suspects screen-captured from the CCTV footages have been posted at Land Bank’s ATM sites.

For his part, Police Regional Office-7 Director Noli Taliño vowed to conduct a deeper probe, especially since some of the victims were from the police ranks.

“We will coordinate with the bank officials kasi very technical kasi iyong problema nitong scheming device. All we can do is to check ang mga CCTVs nila. Iyong mga dating suspects siguro kung may mga record tayo ay i-check natin yun and we will continue conducting follow-up dito sa ating mga suspects,” he said.

Cebu City Police Office director Joel Doria said at least five police personnel reported falling victims to the scheme but the information will still be verified to ensure that it was not a plain case of transaction error.

Osmeña’s comment

At the Cebu City Hall, Mayor Tomas Osmeña is not entertaining yet the idea of shifting to manual payroll distribution but he did not mince his words when asked for his comment on the alleged ATM skimming cases.

“I’m very worried about that. You know, the banking industry has a responsibility. Right now, I see across the board that they are not upholding the responsibility to the people. They just want the money,” he told reporters yesterday.

Osmeña, who also reported losing P90,000 to unauthorized withdrawals in December last year, called on banks to immediately devise a way so that people’s wages will not be held.

“How many people can afford to hold their salary? Never mind Tommy Osmeña, I’m okay but ang uban? Ang ordinaryo nga tawo? Naa sila’y obligasyo nkadaadlaw. Kinahanglan sila mopalit og bugas unya nawala ilahang kwarta. Unsa ang atoang remedyo niana?” he said.

Acknowledging that he is not an expert on the matter, the mayor said he is open to suggestions on how the city could possibly help.

“I’m very open if there’s anything I can help. I’m not an expert on ATM system but send a message, we will listen to everything naman,” he said.

Osmeña said he is not amenable to manual payroll distribution because it is laborious and entails more manpower. 

— with Odessa O. Leyson (FREEMAN)

Philippines Promises to Return 81M US$ Stolen From Bangladesh

By Reuters

August 5, 2016

Modal Trigger

Commuters pass by the Bangladesh central bank building in Dhaka on March 8.Photo: Reuters

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has given a commitment that $81 million stolen by cyber criminals from the account of Bangladesh Bank in New York and funneled through bank accounts in Manila would be returned, the Bangladesh ambassador to the Philippines said on Friday.

A Bangladesh central bank team visiting Manila to recover the money said earlier on Friday that it was close to getting back $15 million of the loot frozen by the Philippines.

Cyber criminals tried to steal nearly $1 billion from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February, and succeeded in transferring $81 million to four accounts at Manila’s Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

The money was then laundered through the city’s casinos, according to investigators.

Only about $18 million, including $2.7 million frozen by the Philippines’ casino regulator, has been accounted for.

The Philippines’ Department of Justice has asked the Bangladesh Bank delegation to file a legal document staking its claim to $15 million of that, but the casino money will have to be pursued separately, said two sources close to the visiting team.

“We are very hopeful that we will get the total $81 million,” said Ambassador John Gomes, who is helping the bank representatives on a four-day visit to Manila ending Friday.

“The reason is I got a commitment from the president himself,” he said.

He added Bangladesh’s finance minister might come to the Philippines to meet Duterte to help in the recovery of the money.

Gomes said the bank felt RCBC should be held responsible because it did not follow a stop-payment request from Bangladesh Bank, and its lawyer Ajmalul Hossain said it would sue RCBC if it was not able to recover the entire $81 million.