Financial scam investigations could move more quickly under a new information-sharing framework that enables prosecutors to obtain financial account information through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), strengthening the enforcement of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).
The framework was formalized through an Information-Sharing Agreement signed by the BSP and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on July 22, establishing procedures for the DOJ to request and receive financial account information from the BSP’s Consumer Account Protection Office under the AFA and BSP Circular No. 1214, subject to safeguards limiting the use of shared information to authorized purposes and requiring its protection in accordance with the law.
The BSP said the arrangement would allow competent authorities to trace and identify individuals behind suspicious financial transactions more quickly, helping prevent further losses due to fraud.
Enacted in 2024, AFASA authorizes the BSP to investigate financial accounts that may have been used in financial account scamming and to share relevant account information with law enforcement and other competent authorities solely for investigating and prosecuting violations of the law.
The law also provides that bank secrecy, foreign currency deposit, non-stock savings and loan association, and data privacy laws do not apply to financial accounts subject to BSP inquiry or investigation under AFASA.
BSP Circular No. 1214 implements these powers by requiring competent authorities, including the DOJ, to enter into an Information-Sharing Agreement with the BSP before requesting financial account information.
The circular also requires designated requesting officers and security measures to safeguard the confidentiality and integrity of shared financial account information.
BSP General Counsel Roberto L. Figueroa said stronger institutional collaboration would improve the government’s ability to identify organized actors exploiting the financial system and hold them accountable.
“Stronger institutional collaboration enhances our collective ability to identify organized actors who exploit the financial system, disrupt their operations, and hold them accountable under the law,” Figueroa said.
BSP Deputy Governor Elmore O. Capule, adviser to the AFASA Technical Working Group, said the agreement “sends a very strong message that the government is fighting as one to protect the Filipino public.”
Representing BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr., Figueroa signed the agreement with DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty.
The BSP earlier signed similar information-sharing agreements with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, and the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen inter-agency coordination against financial scams.
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