Philippines proposes 12-month freeze on new payment operator registrations as BSP reviews licensing rules and tightens controls on crypto-linked payment services

Putting VASPs in the same direct-acquiring bucket as casinos turns incumbent BSP-supervised acquirers into the choke point, since crypto merchant onboarding can no longer sit behind a payment aggregator ([BSP draft](https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Regulations/Issuances%20of%20Policy%20Exposure%20Drafts/Draft_Circular-on-Regulations-to-Strengthen-Integrity-Controls-in-Payment-Transaction.pdf)). The draft also puts beneficial owners, settlement accounts, QR credentials and sanctions status into a national database, with an interim repository due in 90 days and all active records migrated by month 15.

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