Bankers group says Philippine financial system is sound amid Wirecard controversy

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) on Tuesday said the Philippine financial system is stable despite the financial scandal involving German payments firm Wirecard, which dragged two of the country’s biggest banks.

“The BAP assures the public that the country's financial system is sound and that very strict rules regarding the issuance of bank certifications are in place,” the group said in a statement.

“Some individuals may try to forge or falsify these documents, but their authenticity can be readily ascertained through careful scrutiny or verification by the appropriate institutions,” it added.

BDO and BPI have earlier denied involvement with Wirecard, saying the documents presented to the banks were forged or spurious.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said none of Wirecard’s missing billions entered the country’s financial system. Wirecard itself has said the missing money likely never existed.

Wirecard's resigned chief executive, Markus Braun, was arrested on suspicion of market manipulation last week.

A Filipino lawyer, Mark Tolentino, was tagged as the supposed trustee of Wirecard. He allegedly opened six euro accounts with the Philippine banks to hold the amount in escrow.

Tolentino, however, claimed he was framed and was a victim of identity theft.

BDO said it has fired the rouge employee who allegedly fabricated a bank certificate, while BPI suspended an employee for supposed falsification of documents.

“We encourage the public to practice due diligence in receiving certifications and documents from third parties by having them validated by the issuing bank,” BAP said.

“We continue to work with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other government agencies to improve our processes and our member banks are regularly and proactively strengthening security checks and systems to ensure integrity at every level,” it added.

The BAP is the lead organization of universal and commercial banks in the Philippines consisting of 45 member banks, 21 of which are local banks and 24 are foreign bank branches.

It counts as members BDO, BPI, Metrobank, PNB, RCBC, ING, EastWest Bank, Union Bank, UCPC, Citibank, among others.

The BSP earlier assured the public that there were adequate policies in place to address operational risks such as what occurred in the Wirecard scandal. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News