Bankers’ group says ‘very strict rules’ in place

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The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) yesterday through a statement assured the public the country’s financial system is “sound” and that “very strict rules regarding the issuance of bank certifications are in place.”

BAP is the lead organization of universal and commercial banks in the Philippines consisting of 45 members, 21 of which are local banks and 24 are foreign bank branches.

BAP said it is encouraging the public to practice “due diligence in receiving certifications and documents from third parties by having them validated by the issuing bank.”

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“Some individuals may try to forge or falsify these documents, but their authenticity can be readily ascertained through careful scrutiny or verification by the appropriate institutions,” BAP said.

“We continue to work with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other government agencies to improve our processes and our member banks are regularly and proactively strengthening security checks and systems to ensure integrity at every level,” BAP stressed.

The statement came after German financial firm Wirecard, two weeks ago, claimed $2.1 billion of its money were deposited in two of the country’s biggest banks, BDO Unibank and Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI).

The two banks have denied this, stressing that Wirecard was not a client nor did they have any business relationship with the German firm.

BDO and BPI also informed Ernst & Young (EY), the external auditor hired by Wirecard, that “the documents that attested to the presence of the supposed funds were spurious.”

Last week, Wirecard said the missing $2.1 billion “probably didn’t exist” and filed for insolvency, owing creditors almost $4 billion that its auditor EY said was the result of a “sophisticated global fraud.”

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