amando m tetangco, jr : working together for a better nation speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines, at the general membership meeting and induction of 2006 - 2007 officers and directors, bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ), makati city, 26 january 2006. * * * distinguished officers and members of the bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ), colleagues and friends in the banking industry, special guests, ladies and gentlemen : good evening! thank you for this privilege of once again witnessing your first general meeting for the year and the induction of your newly elected officers. it is comforting to note that your 2006 officials are mainly re - electionists, led by your president mr. roberto banaag. your membership made a wise decision as this move ensures, among others, continuity and consistency of your programs and advocacies. we expect this to consequently translate to bmap ’ s sustained support of the priority reforms that we, at bangko sentral, continue to implement for a more stable and dynamic, more efficient, more depositor - and customer - friendly banking system. bsp reform initiatives the bsp indeed has taken bold and decisive moves. we believe we have already mounted the appropriate regulatory framework for the prudent conduct of banking business in these challenging times through the reforms initiated by my esteemed predecessor. the next thing to do is to make this work. foremost on our must - do - list is the alignment of existing regulations with international standards and the promulgation of policies more responsive to the growing competitiveness and sophistication of the financial services industry. we are now following through on the enhancements of regulations to strengthen corporate governance, risk management, and capital adequacy in our banks, which would be complemented with effective and efficient enforcement. in line with these commitments, the monetary board ( mb ) recently approved the issuance of three major regulations covering : • the new financial reporting package ( frp ) ; • the guidelines on supervision by risk ; and • the guidelines on information technology ( it ) risk management the new frp effectively amends the manual of accounts moa ) and revises the reportorial requirements for banks to align these with the provisions of the philippine financial reporting standards ( pfrs ) / philippine accounting standards pas ). to the extent possible, we have integrated in the new frp the requirements of the

for the public, • greater funding flexibility for public as well as for the private sectors ; • greater scope for interest rate risk management, and • more reliable signaling mechanism for pricing financial assets bsp ’ s own transformation process we are complementing the industry ’ s transformation process with our own. in fact, we are in the process of fully adopting a consolidated and risk - based supervision approach. international best practice on banking supervision has adopted this approach primarily because of its more forward - looking orientation rather than the after - the - fact view of traditional supervision. accordingly, the focus of our attention now is on the most significant risks within a particular financial institution and within the industry as a whole. consistent with this new approach, we are reorganizing the bsp supervision and examination sector. we expect to generate benefits particularly in terms of operational efficiency, cost efficiencies, as well as greater value - added to bsp supervised entities through better - focused post - examination recommendations. we are also continuing our lobbying efforts in congress for the amendment of the bsp charter. this will make the bsp a more effective monetary authority and banking regulator. we are likewise strongly advocating for the enactment of the credit information system ( cis ) act, which will pave the way for the establishment of a truly comprehensive credit information system. this is expected to lower the cost of credit, provide greater access to credit in general, and reduce the dependency on collateral - based lending. toward a seamless supervision of the bsp ’ s supervised and regulated entities, we are also further strengthening our ties with our co - regulators, both here and abroad. i am happy to report that we are making real progress on various initiatives being undertaken under the umbrella of the financial sector forum ( fsf ). discussions during the sixth fsf meeting centered on programs aimed at deepening consumer literacy and further strengthening of coordinating arrangements between and among the member agencies ( sec, bsp, oic and pdic ). the financial sector forum, through its consumer protection and education committee ( cpec ), shall mount a consumer protection and education campaign plan. this plan aims to equip consumers with adequate, timely and relevant information about financial products and services, not only for their protection but also for maintaining the stability of the financial sector. this is a specific area where the expert assistance of bmap will be most welcome. actually, we are counting on bmap to respond to this campaign with the same vigor and dedication as it