The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has launched a formal probe on missing deposit funds of East West Banking Corp.’s (EastWest) allegedly stolen by one its managers.
In a statement on Thursday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it is “looking into reported unauthorized transactions relayed by some of the country’s lawmakers and reported by media.”
EastWest has confirmed reports on the missing accounts.
“To clarify recent reports and social media posts, we have found out that a branch manager of ours has gone missing together with the deposits of her two customers with whom she had been transacting for years,” the bank said in a statement.
It said the amount involved is “confidential but is not significant” if the size of the bank will be taken into consideration. EastWest has been among the top three most profitable banks in the country in the past four years.
The banks added that its clients have been informed of the situation and were assured that an internal investigation is being conducted. Also, the missing funds were also credited back to their accounts.
“The issue is limited to one branch but nonetheless we shall put in place additional system-wide safeguards to make sure this isolated incident does not happen again,” EastWest said.
The identities of the depositors, the missing manager and the location of the branch were not disclosed by EastWest.
EastWest confirmed the reports on the missing accounts after ACT CIS party-list Rep. Nina Taduran revealed the incident over a radio intervew.
For its part, the BSP said it has always fostered high consumer welfare standards in the financial system.
“The central bank also assures the public that the domestic banking system adheres to robust and globally-adherent regulations for managing risks, including operational and cybersecurity risks,” it said. CURRENTPH
