BSP bars 7,500 persons from working in banking industry – The Manila Times

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said to date, it blacklisted around 7,500 persons who are no longer allowed to work or engage in the banking industry due to various violations.

“Based on our records, we have around 7,500 names, and the most common reason is dismissal. [But] let me clarify that the information in the database is not limited to persons disqualified to work in banks,” BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said during an online briefing on Thursday.

According to Florabelle Santos-Madrid, director for the central bank’s Financial System Integrity Department, the said database is updated every time the regulator receives information on the disqualification of a specific person based on the reports of a bank.

“So, the BSP would process that based on the updates that we received from the financial institution,” she added.

To weed out unprincipled personnel who may cause reputational risk to a bank and to the financial system, the Bangko Sentral recently enhanced its know-your-employee (KYE) procedures.

Aligned with global best practices, the rules require BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) to adopt a risk-focused screening process, which considers sensitivities of certain positions that may require more stringent screening.

BSFIs shall consider an adequate understanding of an employee’s personal background, character, conflict of interest, and propensity to commit fraud or irregularity. The revised rules also emphasize the use of central bank records as part of the screening process of BSFIs.

The KYE rules also aim to address the situation when the person is already inside the BSFI, highlighting the importance of continuing assessment of employees’ fitness and propriety to perform the responsibilities required of the position. The new policy identified certain behaviors that serve as red flags warranting further scrutiny as part of personnel’s performance evaluation.