Singapore and Philippines plan financial data sharing rules

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that data sharing brings benefits but also risks, so they want to " promote the adoption and implementation of policies and rules" to encourage safe data connectivity.

The rules would make it easier to transfer data, including personal information, across borders and would stipulate the kind of access regulators would need to stored data.

The regulators said that the increasing use of data in financial services and the increasing use of technology to supply financial services offer a range of benefits, but may result in new and complex market risks and challenges for policymakers and regulators.

The statement allows the regulated institutions to store and process the data as long as the two central banks have full and timely access to the data necessary to fulfill their regulatory and supervisory mandate.

If the regulators are unable to access the data, institutions should have the opportunity to remediate the lack of access before being required to use or locate computing facilities locally.

The joint statement said the two banks would also encourage other authorities to adopt policies and rules that accelerate data connectivity.

The issued joint statement is subject to the respective domestic laws and regulations of Singapore and the Philippines. It does not restrict the two banks from adopting or maintaining measures "to protect personal information, personal privacy and confidentiality of individual records and accounts".