BSP tweaks EDD rules, ups large withdrawal limit

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has raised the threshold for cash withdrawals that trigger enhanced due diligence (EDD) to P1 million from P500,000, in a bid to streamline legitimate financial activity while preserving strong safeguards against money laundering and illicit flows.

Under BSP Circular No. 1230, issued on 27 February 2026, depositors may now withdraw up to P1 million in a single transaction without EDD. The central bank said the move is based on consultations with industry stakeholders and insights from its latest National Risk Assessment and monitoring data.

The previous P500,000 threshold, which took effect in September, was aimed at curbing money laundering but was found to ensnare many routine transactions such as payroll, loan disbursements, and project payouts.

“For individuals and businesses with regular large transactions, EDD will be done on a per-customer basis, not per transaction,” the BSP clarified, noting that the change should not hamper normal banking activity.

Above the new threshold, clients will be asked to provide information to demonstrate the legitimacy of their transactions. Banks may still adopt lower thresholds based on their internal risk assessments, consistent with risk-based customer due diligence principles.

The adjustment comes as the BSP advances efforts to modernize its anti-fraud and anti-money-laundering frameworks on multiple fronts. The central bank is also pushing for reforms to the Bank Secrecy Law, which industry players and regulators say is among the strictest in the world and can inadvertently hamper investigations into illicit flows.

BSP General Counsel Roberto L. Figueroa said previously that easing bank secrecy rules would strengthen implementation of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) by enabling authorities to pursue scammers and other financial criminals more effectively — from small operators to those implicated in larger corruption scandals.

“For example, if you're a corrupt politician, so [if] you receive commissions or bribes from a briber, if you deposit that in a financial account, that's clearly a violation of AFASA. But again, if the easing or relaxation of bank secrecy law also becomes a law, we can also use that power to prosecute him for other crimes,” he said.

At the onset of investigations into the flood control scandal last year, AFASA was invoked by the BSP for the first time to investigate suspicious accounts used to move illicit funds, obtain banking information despite bank secrecy restrictions, and require banks to temporarily hold suspicious funds for 30 days, all while coordinating with relevant law enforcement agencies.

The probes focused partly on money muling, which AFASA criminalizes — using financial accounts to receive, transfer, or withdraw proceeds of crime. Since AFASA suspends bank secrecy protections for accounts under investigation, regulators were able to inspect financial records tied to the scheme.

The push to amend bank secrecy rules is also linked to the Philippines’ efforts to remain off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list, a monitoring list for jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures. BSP officials have indicated that overly restrictive secrecy provisions could risk a return to the gray list, potentially eroding investor confidence and international standing.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), chaired by BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr., has frozen about P25 billion in assets of individuals or entities implicated in the “floodgate” controversy, with AFASA playing an integral role in certifying the veracity of the financial crimes involved.

The central bank also recently signed an information-sharing agreement with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), authorizing the lawful sharing of confidential financial account information to support investigations involving scams and related offenses, in accordance with existing bank secrecy laws and regulatory safeguards.