Issuance of BSRD for a Portfolio Foreign Investment

CIRCULAR LETTER Series of 1998

TO : All Commercial Banks and OBUs

S U B J E C T : Amended Guidelines for the Issuance by Custodian Banks of a Bangko Sentral Registration Document (BSRD) for a Portfolio Foreign Investment

To simplify documentation and procedures, the one-BSRD-per investor-per custodian bank rule shall henceforth be followed for the registration of portfolio foreign investments remitted inward thru custodian banks under Section 37 of CB Circular No. 1389 dated 13 April 1993:

Only one BSRD shall be issued by a custodian bank to a foreign investor applying with that bank for registration of his foreign investments;

The foreign investor who presently has two or more existing BSRDs with one custodian bank may, at his option, direct that bank to consolidate and replace them with one new BSRD in accordance with this Circular-Letter, provided the replaced BSRDs are cancelled and the original of said BSRDs are surrendered to BSP in accordance with existing rules;

The custodian bank may internally maintain, in its own books, subsidiary ledgers/accounts pertaining to movements and outstanding balances of a) the various stocks or types of investments under a BSRD and b) if a group of investors has elected to have only one BSRD issued for the group, the investments of each member.

Additional foreign exchange inward remittances of a foreign investor thru a custodian bank, which had earlier issued to that investor a BSRD in accordance with this Circular-Letter, shall be considered BSP-registered after they are annotated in said BSRD, and reported to BSP by said custodian bank within two (2) banking days after transaction date under the “Daily Report on Additional FX Inward Remittances Under Existing BSRDs” form attached hereto as Annex 1, which Report, if properly certified by AAB, shall be considered in compliance with the bank certification required under Item 2-a-2 of Appendix 10 of CB Circular No. 1389;

Changes (other than that in preceding No. 4) in the composition of the investment holdings of the foreign investor under a BSRD shall be annotated in said BSRD and reported by the custodian bank to BSP under “Weekly Report on Changes in the Investments Under Existing BSRDs” form attached hereto as Annex 2;

Repatriation of capital and outward remittance of profits/dividends/earnings shall continue to be reported in accordance with existing rules.

This Circular-Letter shall take effect on October 1, 1998. However, the custodian bank may already exercise its option to consolidate existing BSRDs under No. 2 hereof effective immediately.

EDGARDO P. ZILACITA Deputy Governor