RULES that will further ease foreign exchange (FX) transactions are being finalized and will be released later this year by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), a monetary official said on Monday.The central bank is already gathering comments from stakeholders, Monetary Board member Anita Aquino told reporters.'The process is already exposed to the market,' she said. 'Once all the comments are incorporated, the final circular will be released.'The BSP last month released a draft circular where it proposed that the processing of foreign currency loans, inward investments and other FX transactions filed with its International Operations Department be made free of charge.Stakeholders had been given up to February 2 to comment.Aquino noted that monetary authorities had 'made significant strides in reforming the foreign exchange market,' citing changes introduced in August 2021 that allowed the electronic submission of documents and the use of electronic signatures.'Building on this progress, the implementation of the 13th wave of FX reforms in March of 2023 translated pandemic-related relief measures into policy, easing compliance for banks,' she added.These measures include the removal of the notarization requirement for certain supporting documents as well as the lifting of processing charges for late submissions to the BSP for certain FX-related documents.More reforms can be expected, Aquino said, adding that she was pushing for the removal of the Bangko Sentral Registration Document requirement for foreign portfolio investments.'I understand that the custodian banks have already been consulted and I can sense the disbelief that something like this is feasible,' she said.These and other recommended reforms, Aquino added, 'are currently being worked on by the BSP team.''I believe that the draft circular is already being exposed to the markets and I am excited to receive the final circular after the industry's comments are taken into consideration.'
