Discussions that will allow qualified commercial banks from Philippines to operate subsidiaries in Indonesia and Thailand are still ongoing, the chief of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Tuesday. In line with the Asean Banking Integration Framework, bilateral agreements between two Asean monetary authorities are called heads of agreement or HOAs. In his speech, Espenilla said the central bank was strategically opening up the banking system to competition in line with the 2014 enactment of the Foreign Banks Liberalization Law. The Monetary Board, he noted, has so far approved 12 foreign bank applications and five representative offices. “The Philippine banking system remains sound and stable.

Source: Manila Times March 06, 2018 17:03 UTC