Senator eyes ‘super agency’ vs financial scams

A bill is likely to be filed in the Senate seeking to shield banks from financial scams by incorporating the powers of the central bank, the securities regulators, and the Insurance Commission in one entity. Senator Sergio Osmeña III, the lawmaker who is eyeing to file the bill, said the “super agency" could be called the Monetary Authority of the Philippines or the Financial Authority of the Philippines. “It will become a bigger house like what London and Singapore have. They have the National Service Authority of London and the Monetary Authority of Singapore," Osmeña said last Friday at the sidelines of the ceremonies marking the annual meeting of members of the Chamber of Thrift Banks. Before his term ended in 2007, Osmeña drew a structural outlines of the “super agency," but he said former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Rafael Buenaventura had opposed and described it as an ill-timed and even unconstitutional proposal. Osmeña, however, said the BSP charter, which tasks the BSP as the supervising body over banks and financial institutions, did not prohibit Buenaventura from exercising authority over all other financial players in the market. “I then told Gov. Buenaventura that yes, the BSP is the sole authority over the banks, but that there is nothing in its charter that prevents Congress from adding to their responsibilities," he said. Buenanventura successfully begged for a deferment, Osmeña recalled. The senator said the “super agency" should meet regularly to flesh out the issues involved in the banking industry. Osmeña pointed out that he also supports measures that would correct loopholes in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, where a court could freeze a bank account allegedly being used in illegal activities for 20 days and prohibit the authorities from making inquiries into the same account. At present, what an individual with suspected accounts can do is wait till the 20-day period ends and bring the money elsewhere when the legal prohibition lapses. Osmeña said this frustrates anti-money laundering officials who have tracked and tied down suspects to particular accounts as proof of their misdeeds. - KBK, GMANews.TV