Philippines allows full entry of foreign banks

 Foreign banks will be allowed full entry into the Philippines after the country approved recently a law on operations of foreign banks, a senior government official said Sunday.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said that Philippine President Benigno Aquino III had signed Republic Act No. 10641, otherwise known as "An Act Allowing the Full Entry of Foreign Banks in the Philippines, Amending for the Purpose R.A. 7721."
Coloma assuaged concerns that with the new law, foreign banks could become threat to the local banks, and also said this law could also help in further improving the country's economy.
He said that this new law is a Philippine action toward the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) integration by 2015, and "that includes the aspect of financial integration."