BSP to Ease Documentary Requirements for Transactions of FX for Borrowing, Financing and Investments

The BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) has issued draft rules proposing to ease documentary requirements for the sale and transactions of FX for borrowing, financing and investments.

In a circular, the BSP proposes amendments to FX regulations to revise the minimum documentary requirements for the registration of inward investments and of FX remittances to fund investments.

The BSP is also amending its rules to allow non-residents including foreign banks to open and maintain peso deposit accounts in the Philippines subject to the submission of necessary documents.

Other amendments will relax documentary requirements for resident-to-resident sales of FX; resident to non-resident's non-trade current account FX transactions; sales of FX for foreign loans/borrowings, guarantees and other financing schemes or arrangements; and sales of FX for inward and outward investments.

For most of the FX transactions specified in the circular, the BSP is  relaxing documentary requirements. In some cases, only prior BSP approval is required, and for other transactions, banks will only need to register with the BSP, submit proof of reporting and pay fees.

The draft circular also includes proposed guidelines for inward investments, the supporting documents for the registration of inward investments, and the processing fees on FX transactions.