This accounting alert circulates the set of temporary measures issued by BSP aimed at assisting BSFIs whose ability to render financial services to the general public is affected by measures to manage COVID-19.
Introduction
The Monetary Board, in its Resolution No. 403.A dated March 19, 2020, approved the grant of additional operational relief for BSFIs affected by measures imposed to manage the COVID-19 situation, together with heightened health and safety risks. These additional relief serves as a set of temporary measures to assist BSFIs in focusing their resources on the continuous delivery of financial services and supporting BSFIs' subsequent recovery efforts.
Period of Eligibility
The additional operational relief may be availed of by BSFIs for the duration of the enhanced community quarantine and 1 month thereafter, and may be extended depending on the developments related to the COVID-19 situation.
Additional Relief Measures
The additional operational relief measures that are available to BSFIs are as follows:
1. Relaxation in the regulations governing the submission of reports and other documents to the BSP-Financial Supervision Sector (FSS)
a. The submission of required reports that fall due within March to May 2020 is suspended until further notice, except for Financial Reporting Package for Banks (FRP), the Consolidated Foreign Exchange (FX) Position Report, event-driven report requirements and reserve requirement-related reports (which include the following: Consolidated Daily Report of Condition, Weekly Report on Required and Available Reserves Against Deposit Liabilities, Consolidated Report on Required and Available Reserves Against Deposit Substitutes and Special Financing, and Weekly Reserve Report on Trust and Other Fiduciary Accounts).
b. The pertinent provisions under M-2020-008 dated March 14, 2020 shall apply in the submission of the FRP, FX Position Report, event-driven report requirements and the reserve requirement-related reports.
c. Submission of the notarized certification related to the FRP, FX Position Report, event-driven report requirements and the reserve requirement-related reports, as applicable, shall be waived.
d. Reports or documents sent through an official email address of the BSFI to the BSP-FSS during the enhanced community quarantine period shall be recognized as an authorized submission without need for a physical signature, provided that the submission shall be made in accordance with the provisions of M-2020-007 dated March 14, 2020.
2. Extension in the period of compliance with BSP supervisory requirements
a. The period of compliance with BSP supervisory and notification requirements shall be extended until the end of June 2020 for those imposed by the BSP-FSS prior to March 8, 2020 and which fall due within the months of March to May 2020, unless otherwise directed by the concerned supervising department.
b. The period within which a BSFI is required to comply with the submission of documentary requirements related to activities that fall under a Type C license, as applicable, shall be extended, until end of June 2020, for those that fall due within the months of March to May 2020.
c. The documentary requirements shall be submitted by the BSFI to the BSP in accordance with prevailing guidelines at the time of submission.
3. Increase in the single borrower's limit (SBL) from 25% to 30% for a period of 6 months from March 19, 2020, pursuant to national interest.
4. Relaxation in the maximum penalty that may be imposed for reserve deficiencies, which shall be the Overnight Lending Facility rate plus 50 basis points, provided that the maximum reserve deficiency of the BSFI shall be 200 basis points above the reserve requirement.
5. Relaxation of the notification requirements related to changes in banking hours, wherein a bank need not inform the BSP of changes in banking hours during the enhanced community quarantine period.
6. Relaxation of the notification requirements on the temporary closure of bank branch/branch-lite units and BSFI offices/service units.
See attached memorandum for the complete details of this publication.
