fatf ), the body that evaluates the anti - money laundering regimes of individual countries. meanwhile, section 4 of circular no. 1389 dated 13 april 1993, as amended, requires any person who brings in or out of the philippines an amount exceeding php 10, 000 to obtain prior bsp authorization therefore. the rule was promulgated to help prevent speculation against the peso and maintain the convertibility of the currency. vigilance in the implementation of the bsp rules, particularly in the transport of foreign currencies, is important in addressing incidents such as recent events involving the discovery by u. s. customs authorities of large amounts of undeclared foreign currency found in the possession of filipino citizens arriving in the u. s. we are glad that we will be assisted by other government agencies in this regard. the moa defines the functions and responsibilities of the various government agencies involved and aims to promote harmony and maximum cooperation in the implementation of bsp rules on the transport of currencies. the moa demonstrates the strong commitment of the government, thru the heads of the various agencies who are signatories to the agreement, in instituting measures versus money laundering in the philippines. again, thank you for your support and we look forward to the smooth implementation of the moa.

we have dg diwa guinigundo, dg armando suratos, dg nestor espenilla, jr. and general counsel and asst. governor juan de zuniga, jr. what makes e - rediscounting attractive to banks? well, as an online rediscounting facility, banks file loan applications through the internet and – if their application is approved - receive the loan proceeds within minutes, through their demand deposit accounts with the bangko sentral. in other words, they same time, incur lower transaction costs and are spared the inconvenience of physically filing their applications and going through manual processing. on the other hand, bank customers can look forward to lower borrowing costs when their banks start sharing the cost benefits of e - rediscounting. at this point, let me also take the opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of the officers and staff of the pilot and participating banks who made their resources available for the success of this project. we also wish to thank the officials and staff of the bsp, particularly from the department of loans and credit and the information technology sub - sector. of course, we would also like to acknowledge the assistance and participation of the davao regional office. let me assure our colleagues from the banking community and the business sector here in mindanao that we shall continue to explore ways to enhance our operations so as to facilitate the greater flow of credit in the countryside. in line with this strategy, the bsp has approved a new project that will compliment the e - rediscounting system. we call this project the collateral information and management system or cims. the cims is envisioned as a system by which the bsp can monitor, control and manage collaterals submitted by banks as security for their loans. the cims is expected to enable authorize users to electronically obtain information on the status of collateral documents particularly the collateral positions of borrower banks and end - user borrowers. this system will also further facilitate loan processing as well as ensure the bsp ’ s protection against potential credit risk. phase i of the cims is targeted for completion by the end of this year. indeed, the monetary board and the bangko sentral are committed to continuously find better ways of serving our country through the delivery of fast, adequate, and affordable credit, particularly to small - and medium - sized borrowers from the countryside. we hope therefore that our partners from the banking community and the business sector