The Senate unanimously approved on third and final reading the bill seeking to amend certain sections of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) Charter, and make it an attached agency of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Voting 23-0-0, the Senate passed during its hybrid plenary session last Monday, January 31, Senate Bill No. 2365 or An Act Amending Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 18, 22, 24, 26, and 28 of Republic Act No. 3591, otherwise known as the PDIC Charter.
Once signed into law, PDIC will become an attached agency of the BSP. Currently, PDIC is an attached agency of the Department of Finance (DOF).
Senate Finance Committee chief Senator Sonny Angara, who sponsored the bill, said the transfer of PDIC to BSP aims to provide better policy, program coordination and collaboration and regulatory efficiency.
The measure is also expected to help strengthen the country’s banking system, promote the public’s faith and confidence in it and boost the country’s economic recovery in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Angara also thanked Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies for allowing him to shepherd the approval of the measure.
Aside from becoming an attached agency of the BSP, the bill also empowers PDIC’s board of directors with the flexibility to increase the maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC).
Further, the PDIC is would be mandated to review the MDIC every three years and allow them to increase the coverage based on inflation and other pertinent economic indicators, according to SBN 2365.
The Senate also introduced several amendments on the PDIC Charter to further streamline the regulatory framework and complement the objective of creating a more collaborative policy framework for the BSP, the PDIC, and all other stakeholders in the financial industry.
It also seeks to expand the authority of the PDIC to cover the non-conventional deposit liabilities of Islamic banks as a precursor to the establishment of Islamic Deposit Insurance System (IDIS).