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Philippines proposes 12-month freeze on new payment operator registrations
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas would keep reviewing submitted applications, but would not approve or deny them during the pause while tightening controls around merchant services involving regulated virtual asset firms.
Cointelegraph reports that the Philippines central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, has proposed pausing new registrations for payment-system operators for 12 months while it conducts a review of its licensing and taxonomy framework.
Under a draft circular, the BSP would suspend acceptance and processing of applications for payment-system operators, but applications submitted before the suspension could still be evaluated. However, the regulator would not approve or deny any applications until the pause ends.
The proposal also calls for tighter oversight of payment arrangements that involve virtual asset service providers, including merchant acquisition services by BSP-supervised institutions. Those arrangements would need enhanced due diligence and monitoring, transaction and settlement limits, and other risk based controls, and entities would be barred from starting activities requiring payment operator registration unless the BSP authorizes them otherwise.
Cointelegraph says the draft circular would take effect 15 days after publication if finalized, and the BSP is currently accepting feedback. The central bank has also sought to cover virtual asset firms that are licensed, registered, or authorized by the BSP, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, or another authority.