The House and Senate approved different proposals for opening bank records, and the final safeguards have not yet been settled.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has again asked Congress to loosen the country’s bank-secrecy rules as part of his anti-corruption program.
The proposal is called the Banking Reform for Integrity, Good Governance, Honesty and Transparency Act, or BRIGHT Act. It would give more government offices legal access to bank records during authorized investigations.
That does not mean anyone in government could inspect an account whenever they wanted. Access would still depend on the office involved, the reason for the request, and the approval required under the final law.
There is another detail that headlines often miss. The House and Senate approved different bank-secrecy bills, and those versions do not give government the same powers.
The House version mainly expands the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ authority over people connected to banks and other institutions under its supervision. The Senate proposal reaches much further, covering the Ombudsman, Congress, tax authorities, and several financial regulators.
Here are five things to know.
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