Peso power causes problems

Banks in the Philippines have significantly improved their market risk management practices in the past year, to the point where the central bank feels comfortable easing its currency exchange rules. Kathleen Kearney reports

Market risk levels have risen significantly at banks in the Philippines in the past year, with some institutions seeing a fourfold rise in daily foreign exchange transaction volumes due to the swift appreciation of the peso during the past 18 months. At the same time, the country's leading banks have bolstered their risk management capabilities to match these increases in financial risks, which should put them in a good position for new forex rules that took effect on April 2, as Asia Risk went