BSP Amends Foreign Exchange Regulations

On 29 March 2023, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (“BSP”), through its Monetary Board, issued BSP Circular No. 1171 (“Circular”) containing amendments to the Foreign Exchange (“FX”) Regulations.

In the Circular, the BSP emphasized the shift towards electronic submission of documents for foreign exchange transactions. In relation to documents submitted by clients before FX sale or deposit of funds to a peso deposit account of non-resident, Authorized Agent Banks (“AABs”) or subsidiary or affiliate foreign exchange corporations of AABs may verify the authenticity of BSP-issued documents in electronic form with the BSP-International Operations Department (“BSP-IOD”). Additionally, the BSP will no longer issue hard copies of electronically issued BSP documents such as BSP letter-approval and provisional Bangko Sentral Registration Documents from 27 March 2020, as such documents shall remain valid even after the period covered by BSP Circular No. 1080 or the operational relief measures for FX transactions issued in response to community quarantines brought about by COVID19. 

Moreover, the BSP has waived the processing fees for applications for approval/registration of foreign/foreign currency loans/borrowings, inward investments and other FX transactions filed with the BSP-IOD unless otherwise indicated under the FX Manual.
Lastly, the BSP stated that the waiver of monetary penalties for delays incurred in the submission of reports to the BSP-IOD in accordance with BSP Circular No. 1080 and BSP Circular Letter No. CL-2020-021 (Reports for Submission to the BSP-IOD) shall remain effective until 30 June 2023, unless extended by the BSP.