Philippine Authorities Issues VASPs Crypto Reporting Guidelines

Highlights:

• The Philippine central bank has rolled out disclosure requirements for Virtual Asset Service Providers.
• Firms will reveal liquidity covers, financial positions, addresses, total value, etc in a bid to protect investors.
• This will help prevent fraud and collapses in the market as global regulators ramp up efforts. 

The Monetary Board of the Philippine Central Bank has approved new crypto reporting guidelines for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The amendments to Section 902-N of the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions (MORNBFI) seek to bridge all gaps within the sector. 

Global authorities continue to tighten crypto regulations in a bid to protect investors. Efforts are largely aimed at preventing scams leading to huge losses. Crypto executives also laud clear regulatory practices as they come with an added layer of legitimacy, public trust, and direction. 

Philippine Notification Requirements for VASPs

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) highlighted the need for effective data gathering, improved data quality, and reduced information asymmetries. VASPs will submit 13 reports consisting of two monthly, seven quarterly reports, three semi-annually, and an annual audited financial statement under the new guidelines.

An approved external auditor must vet the company’s financial statements. Crypto firms will also provide a list of operating offices and websites for ten days each quarter. Service providers are closely monitored to prevent infamous occurrences. 

The bank added:

“Beginning 01 January 2025, all VASPs shall submit all regulatory reports via the new reporting portal. To ensure the smooth shift of the reporting process, VASPs shall continue to submit its MSB reports for Q1 and Q2 2025 through the old reporting channels. Thereafter, all VASPs are expected to only report via the new reporting portal unless otherwise instructed by the Bangko Sentral.”

Philippine Taps All Round Scrutiny

Virtual asset firms will disclose total volumes as well as all assets held by custodians, liquidity providers. Similarly, account holder demographics, customers’ wallet volume and balances, etc. These disclosures will aid authorities in preventing several infamous cases in the industry.

Several crypto firms have gone under due to a lack of regulation. The Philippine authorities have taken more steps to prevent this through disclosure of financial standing, liquidity covers, use cases, etc. Users have lauded the global approach to positive crypto regulations.

Users have lauded the global approach to positive crypto regulations. This comes following positive sentiments surrounding Donald Trump’s win at the US polls. A pro-crypto United States could set the tone globally for massive adoption. Furthermore, Trump released a crypto project and picked a crypto-friendly team.

A mainstream misconception I feel I need to clarify here:

The US crypto ecosystem is not excited about deregulation!

It’s excited about regulatory clarity. Regulation has not been the issue – it’s not knowing what the rules are. pic.twitter.com/nu0TrkaPCr

— Noelle Acheson (@NoelleInMadrid) November 25, 2024