The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have signed an Information-Sharing Agreement to strengthen the investigation and prosecution of financial account scams under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).

BSP General Counsel Roberto L. Figueroa, representing BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr., signed the agreement with DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty at the BSP Head Office in Manila on 22 July.

The agreement sets out procedures for the DOJ to request and receive financial account information from BSP’s Consumer Account Protection Office, under AFASA and BSP Circular No. 1214.

It also includes safeguards limiting shared information to authorised purposes, in line with existing data protection laws.

“Stronger institutional collaboration enhances our collective ability to identify organized actors who exploit the financial system, disrupt their operations, and hold them accountable under the law,” Figueroa said.

BSP Deputy Governor Elmore O. Capule, adviser to the AFASA Technical Working Group, said the agreement:

“Sends a very strong message that the government is fighting as one to protect the Filipino public.”

For Filipinos, BSP said the agreement should translate into quicker action against online scams.

It will help in letting authorities trace and identify individuals behind suspicious transactions faster and helping prevent further losses.

This is not BSP’s first such agreement.

In February, BSP signed similar information-sharing agreements with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, also under AFASA and Circular 1214.

CICC Executive Director Renato Paraiso said at the time that the arrangement lets agencies request bank data through an administrative subpoena from BSP, rather than going through the courts.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Philippines based on an image by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas via its website.