The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a reminder to all BSP supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) to conduct proper due diligence on their corporate clients to make sure they have updated records with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The first BSP memo for 2025 or Memorandum No. M-2025-001, signed by BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier on Jan. 14, was issued after the SEC released a notice on Dec. 13, 2024 of its Enhanced Compliance Incentive Plan (ECIP), encouraging some 11,677 corporations that have failed to submit reportorial requirements to avail of the plan before the end of 2024.
These 11,677 corporations did not comply with SEC requirements to submit audit financial statements and general information sheets (GIS) from 2015 to 2022.
The BSP said these corporations are now under evaluation for possible suspension of their Certificates of Incorporation.
As such, all BSFIs – these are banks and non-bank financial institutions – are reminded to ensure the conduct of appropriate customer due diligence on their corporate clients/juridical entities, including the updating of their customer’s records, information and risk profile,
The BSP has directed BSFIs to identify if they have customers in the SEC’s list of corporations in danger of being suspended for not submitting annual reports.
“As part of their ongoing due diligence and relationship review, (BSFIs should) ensure that they have updated understanding of their customers’ profile based on latest records and information,” said the BSP.
The central bank also wants BSFIs to “advise their concerned customers, if any, to directly coordinate with the SEC pursuant to the aforementioned notice.”
Section 177 of the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines provides that every corporation, domestic or foreign, doing business in the Philippines will submit to the SEC annual financial statements and GIS, among other reportorial requirements, within such period as prescribed by the SEC.
The SEC may place a corporation under delinquent status if they fail to submit their reportorial requirements three times, consecutively or intermittently, within a period of five years.