of investigation of such cases. this means that the concept of bank security management now goes beyond guard force deployment and monitoring. broader authority and responsibility for security management personnel clearly requires reorientation and training of both officers and staff of your departments. for at the end of the day, even with the most expensive security gadgets, it is the training of your personnel, their ability to discern potential danger or fraud, and skills honed through constant practice that will spell the difference between success and failure for your security management. now is the best time therefore for bsma to take the lead in this direction by keeping your association united and constantly engaged in dialogues to keep up to date with the industry best practices. and so, once again, i congratulate the bsma and its leadership for having a proactive stance in dealing with bank security management. i wish you all the success in keeping the banking community and its clients safe and secure. mabuhay ang bsma! salamat sa inyong lahat.

benjamin e diokno : old partnerships and renewed beginnings message by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), for the trust officers association of the philippines general membership meeting, manila, 25 march 2021. * * * to the directors, officers, and members of the trust officers association of the philippines ( toap ), guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening! it is a pleasure to address the toap once again, this time, at your general membership meeting. it was in november 2020 when i joined your summit. i recall that i challenged your organization to be adaptable, to take advantage of opportunities, so your institution will reach its goals. with the accomplishments of the association, i commend the incumbent officers of toap under the leadership of atty. bobbie conception for ably steering the industry in 2020. 2020 was an extremely difficult year. but don ’ t despair. we are on the way to recovery. we can look to 2021 with guarded optimism. performance of the trust industry nevertheless, the performance of the trust industry in 2020 was impressive. while the level of assets under management ( aum ) for trust and investment management activities did not show significant growth, it is encouraging to note that the aum of unit investment trust funds ( uitfs ) rose by a hefty 22 percent year - on - year by the end of the third quarter of 2020. this development must have been made possible by the online accessibility of uitfs as the number of uitf participants also surged by around 32 percent year - on - year. uitf clients seem to prefer funds that are more liquid and whose products they are more familiar with. as we move forward, we hope that the uitf participants can progress, particularly with respect to the choice of underlying investments, and that in due time uitfs can be an effective vehicle for retail investors to actively participate in the philippine capital markets. apart from uitfs, the bsp expects growth of trust assets to continue this year. following the industry ’ s proposal, the bsp issued circular no. 1109 on february 4, 2021, which lowered to the minimum amount required to maintain an investment management account ( ima ) and to participate in commingled funds to p100 thousand. the circular also expanded the financial assets that a commingled fund can invest in. this is expected to fuel an increase in the