The Philippine financial system is ‘sound’ and ‘very tight’ guidelines are in effect when it comes to issuing bank certifications. The Philippine Bankers Association (BAP) assured in the midst of controversy over beleaguered German fintech Wirecard.
“Some individuals can attempt to copy or falsify such documents. But, their authenticity can be easily ascertained by the correct institutions by careful inspection or verification,” the BAP said in a press release on Tuesday.
“We advise the public to practice due care in obtaining third-party certifications and documents by getting them in which the issuing bank checked them,” it added.
The BAP said it was continuing to work with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. In addition, other government agencies involved to strengthen processes in local banking.
The group said according to the issues. “Member banks are also “regularly and proactively strengthening security controls and processes to guarantee transparency at all rates.”
Earlier the hunt for the $2.1 billion “missing” funds from Wirecard switched to the Philippines because of dubious documents claiming the German corporation had money stashed in two local banks.
All BDO Unibank and Bank of the Philippine Islands confirmed the documents were wrong. In addition, there had never a financial transaction.
That bank announced that it was a duty of one rouge junior employee to issue the bogus certifications.
Afterward, Wirecard said the money actually didn’t exist.
The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) does however investigate the matter. Reuters confirmed that AMLC is now looking at “entities of interest” local companies: Centurion Online Payment International, PayEasy Solutions, and ConePay International.
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