BSP to widen credit, equity exposure reporting to more nonbanks

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) plans to require more nonbank financial institutions to report their credit and equity exposures, aiming to sharpen its assessment of lending risks, borrower profiles and broader credit trends across the economy.

Under a draft circular, the central bank would expand the coverage of the Enhanced Comprehensive Credit and Equity Exposures Report, or COCREE 2.0, to include nonstock savings and loan associations, nonbank credit card companies and other nonbank financial institutions with credit and equity exposures.

The industry has until April 13 to comment on the proposed regulation.

To give firms time to adjust, the central bank will open report submissions for pilot testing ahead of full implementation.

Penalties for reporting violations will not be imposed during the pilot phase, but will be strictly enforced after a grace period covering the first three reporting cycles following the requirement’s rollout.

“This expansion shall enhance the BSP’s collection of credit data in support of strengthening the surveillance of emerging risks in the financial system and maintenance of credit registry operations,” the central bank explained.

COCREE was first introduced under Circular No. 1131 in December 2021 to improve the BSP’s collection of borrower- and counterparty-level exposure data from selected banks and related entities.

The framework was later enhanced under Circular No. 1184 in December 2023 through COCREE 2.0, which expanded reporting coverage to all banks, nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions and trust entities, while adding new data requirements to support more detailed monitoring of credit exposures.

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The BSP said the proposed expansion builds on those earlier initiatives as the central bank seeks to further strengthen its monitoring of credit exposures and emerging risks in the financial system.

Last year, officials of the Financial Stability Coordination Council said they are building a more robust monitoring framework to keep closer tabs on nonbank financial players, whose growing linkages across the system have made them more significant in day-to-day finance.

The council—composed of the BSP, Department of Finance, Insurance Commission, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and Securities and Exchange Commission—said the effort is part of a broader push to modernize oversight in a bid to catch systemic risks before they snowball.