Legal Updates

31 March 2022 It seems the Philippine legislative and executive branches are on a roll in their mission to further attract foreign investments into the country to accelerate recovery of the economy which was drastically affected by the COVID19 pandemic. After the approval in December 2021 of Republic Act No. (“RA”) 11595 which simplified the … RA NO. 11647: A SEQUEL TO THE PHILIPPINES’ MOVE TO FURTHER EASE THE WAY FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS Read More »

On 01 March 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Memorandum Circular No. 3, series of 2022 on the implementation of the ceiling on interest rates and other fees charged by Lending Companies (LCs), Financing Companies (FCs) and their Online Lending Platforms. In a nutshell, this circular puts a cap on the interests and … Interest Cap on Loans Offered by Lending and Financing Companies Read More »

On 01 March 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued Circular No. 1138 on the Regulatory Reporting Standards for Operators of Payment System (OPS). The said circular prescribes the following: Implementation of Reporting Standards – The BSP mandates that the reports to be submitted must be accurate, complete and timely. In order to … REPORTING STANDARD REQUIREMENTS FOR OPS Read More »

11 March 2022 Data privacy is one of the major concerns of compliance, especially in the digital financial sector, where the processing of personal data of its customers is its main ingredient in the development and operation of their respective applications. However, in the design and development of these fintech applications, data privacy is oftentimes … THE VALUE OF DATA PRIVACY BY DESIGN IN THE FINTECH INDUSTRY Read More »

01 February 2022 Republic Act No. 11595 (“RA 11595”), entitled “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 8762, otherwise known as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000 (RTLA), by lowering the paid-up capital requirement for foreign retail enterprises and other purposes” was signed into law by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on 10 December 2021. It … RA 11595: FURTHER EASING THE WAY FOR FOREIGN RETAIL ENTERPRISES IN THE PHILIPPINES Read More »