Jail time, steeper fines for illegal online lenders, scammers

Albay Rep. oey Salceda.

MANILA, Philippines — Albay Rep. Joey Salceda warns illegal online lenders and investment scammers of jail time and steeper fines once President Rodrigo Duterte signs into law the Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA).

Salceda, who chairs the House committee on ways and means, said Mr. Duterte was likely to approve the law within the week.

“I am told by sources in the Palace that the President is very likely to sign it this week. In any case, it lapses into law on May 7,” he said in a statement late Tuesday.

Authored by Salceda, the FCPA would vest financial regulators with the powers of rulemaking, surveillance and inspection, market monitoring, enforcement and adjudication over financial products.

The law would also expand the subpoena powers of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and increase the fines for investment fraud up to P10 million, on top of criminal sanctions.

“Once enacted, the FCP Act means more powers to authorities, jail time and steeper fines for fraudsters, as well as clearer laws and regulations on investments, lending and other financial products,” Salceda pointed out.

The lawmaker said he expected a bigger and wider crackdown by the SEC on dubious online investments and online lenders once the law is approved.

“I particularly want tougher moves against the harassment conducted by collectors of illegal online lending applications. I also want jail time for those who solicit unauthorized investments,” Salceda stressed.

He added that the law was “a crucial balancing measure in our efforts toward financial inclusion. As more people become included in the financial system, you have a greater base of potential victims of financial fraud. So, you want tougher laws and penalties against fraudsters.”

“With the FCP Act, financial consumers have more solid footing,” Salceda noted, pointing out that he also pushed for a “no waiver of rights” clause in the law.

“No more of that kind of waiver once the FCP Act is law. You don’t just get to say ‘sorry, let’s move on’ if you mess up as a bank,” he said.

Such waivers are common in the fine print of the terms and conditions governing deposit accounts such that depositors of BDO Unibank who were victimized in the “Mark Nagoyo” hacking last December were initially told that the bank was not obligated to reimburse their losses.

According to Salceda, the FCPA would also strengthen confidence in the country’s banking sector.

“We badly need a confidence boost in the system following our gray-listing in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),” Salceda said. The FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 to formulate policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

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