Financial sector signs pact on info sharing

An inter-agency Financial Sector Forum (FSF) signed yesterday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that would allow the establishment of an information sharing framework among the members of the FSF.

The multilateral MOA will pave the way for the laying out of a framework for the sharing of relevant reports and information highly essential in effectively performing the complementary mandates and regulatory functions of each agency over financial institutions.

The sharing framework considers disclosure prohibitions as parties agree to strictly observe confidentiality rules on shared data.

The MOA will further supplement existing bilateral data sharing arrangements among member agencies.

An integral part of the MOA is the Inventory of Reports which, among others, provides a description of each report, its source agency and the frequency each report is submitted to and generated by the source agency.

The MOA also calls for the generation of a universal master-list of all accredited reputation agents among FSF agencies which covers external auditors, credit rating agencies and appraisal companies.

The master-list shall likewise include the standards or criteria applied by each agency in accrediting these reputation agents.

The MOA is also expected to pave the way for a consultation process among FSF member agencies when formulating regulations on reports required for submission from its regulated financial institutions.

The Forum members had previously agreed to adopt the General Information Sheet (GIS) as a common information source instrument. As a result, the revisions are meant to address the FSF member agencies information requirements, both financial and non-financial, as well as disclosure requirements brought about by changes in accounting reporting standards.

The MOA was signed by heads of the four FSF participating agencies led by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Amando Tetangco Jr. The other signatories to the MOA were Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Fe Barin; Insurance Commission commissioner Evangeline Crisostomo-Escobillo; and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. officer-in-charge Imelda Singzon.