Includes how foreign exchange is managed and implications for U.S. business.
Last Published: 7/18/2019

The BSP allows Philippine residents and non-residents to purchase foreign exchange (FX) from authorized agent banks (AABs) and/or banks’ subsidiary/affiliate foreign exchange corporations (AAB-forex corps) and from non-bank entities operating as foreign exchange dealers (FXDs) and/or money changers (MCs) to fund legitimate foreign exchange obligations, subject to the provision of information and/or documents.  The sale of FX by AABs and AAB-forex corps is governed by the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions, issued under Circular No. 645 in February 2009, as amended.  The sale of FX by FXDs/MCs is governed by Circular No. 471, issued in January 2005, as amended.

FX purchases from AABs and AAB-forex corps for trade and non-trade current account transactions (such as travel, medical and educational expenses, royalties, copyright, patent, franchise, and licensing fees) of up to US$500,000 for individuals and US$1,000,000 for corporates/other entities or their equivalent, in other foreign currencies require only the submission of a BSP-prescribed application form to purchase FX to the foreign-exchange selling institution; amounts in excess also require the submission of supporting documents.

The BSP does not require imports to be registered under any mode of payment but does require banks to report such transactions to the BSP prior to purchase of FX for payment.  FX purchases from AABs and AAB-forex corps for import payments may be remitted directly by the FX-selling institution to the non-resident beneficiary’s account or credited to the importer’s foreign currency deposit account (with the same or different AAB) for eventual remittance by the depository AAB to the non-resident beneficiary.

Although there are some exceptions, public sector foreign/foreign currency loans generally require prior BSP approval pursuant to existing laws, including the 1987 Philippine Constitution.  Loan proceeds should be deposited with the BSP pending utilization.

Government-guaranteed foreign/foreign currency borrowings by the private sector also require prior BSP approval.  Purely private sector loans do not require approval but must be reported to the BSP.  Private sector borrowing should be registered with the BSP whether or not these are subject to prior BSP approval to be eligible to source FX for debt servicing from AABs and/or AAB-forex corps.
Registration of foreign investments either with the BSP or custodian banks is optional, unless the foreign exchange which will be used to service the repatriation of capital and/or the remittance of related earnings will be sourced from AABs and AAB-forex corps. 
FX purchases from FXDs/MCs for non-trade current account purposes are allowed up to US$10,000 or its equivalent without additional supporting documents other than a BSP-prescribed application form to purchase foreign currency, but not to exceed US$50,000 per month per customer.  FX purchases from FXDs/MCs for other than non-trade current account purposes require submission of the BSP-prescribed application form to purchase FX and supporting documents on the underlying transactions, regardless of amount.

Additional information on foreign exchange and remittance policies can be found in Parts 1 and 6 of the Investment Climate Statement in this Country Commercial Guide.  More detailed information is available at:
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Regulations/MORFXT/MORFXT.pdf
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Regulations/MORFXT/MORFXT-faas.zip
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Regulations/attachments/2005/c471.pdf
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/regulations/atachments/2009/c652.pdf
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/regulations/attachments/2017/c942.pdf
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Publications/FAQs/faqfxreg.pdf

Contact:
Mr. Thomas Benjamin B. Marcelo
 

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Philippines Market Access Foreign Exchange