Filipino Central Bank establishes guidelines on virtual asset service providers

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines, has released guidelines on virtual asset service providers (VASP), which aims to promote financial innovation while remaining sensitive to the attendant risks.

The guidelines approved by Monetary Board (MB) is designed to resrtrain money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. The VASP regulatory framework is in line with fintech industry's best practices and is consistent with risk management standards set by Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

"We have seen accelerated growth in the use virtual currency exchanges in the past 3 years and it's high time that we should broaden the range of existing regulations in recognition of the evolving nature of this financial innovation and set out commensurate risk management expectations," said Benjamin E. Diokno, Governor of BSP.

The VASP guidelines issued by BSP is in line with the regulator's commitment to remain responsive to technological developments by supportin a balanced and consistent approach in supervising financial technology innovation.