Act No.

2137 (Warehouse Receipts Law)

Sec. 58. Definitions. (a) In this Act, unless the content or subject matter otherwise requires:
"Action" includes counterclaim, set-off, and suits in equity as provided by law in these islands.
"Delivery" means voluntary transfer of possession from one person to another.
"Fungible goods" means goods of which any unit is, from its nature by mercantile custom,
treated as the equivalent of any other unit.
"Goods" means chattels or merchandise in storage or which has been or is about to be stored.
"Holder" of a receipt means a person who has both actual possession of such receipt and a right
of property therein.
"Order" means an order by indorsement on the receipt.
"Owner" does not include mortgagee.
"Person" includes a corporation or partnership or two or more persons having a joint or common
interest.
To "purchase" includes to take as mortgagee or as pledgee.
"Receipt" means a warehouse receipt.
"Value" is any consideration sufficient to support a simple contract. An antecedent or preexisting obligation, whether for money or not, constitutes value where a receipt is taken either in
satisfaction thereof or as security therefor.
"Warehouseman" means a person lawfully engaged in the business of storing goods for profit.
(b) A thing is done "in good faith" within the meaning of this Act when it is in fact done
honestly, whether it be done negligently or not.
Act No. 2655 - AN ACT FIXING RATES OF INTEREST UPON LOANS AND DECLARING THE
EFFECT OF RECEIVING OR TAKING USURIOUS RATES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 1. The rate of interest for the loan or forbearance of any money goods, or credits and
the rate allowed in judgments, in the absence of express contract as to such rate of interest,
shall be six per centum per annum or such rate as may be prescribed by the Monetary Board of
the Central Bank of the Philippines for that purpose in accordance with the authority hereby
granted.
Sec. 7. All covenants and stipulations contained in conveyances, mortgages, bonds, bills, notes,
and other contracts or evidences of debts, and all deposits of goods or other things, whereupon
or whereby there shall be stipulated, charged, demanded, reserved, secured, taken, or received,
directly or indirectly, a higher rate or greater sum or value for the loan or renewal or forbearance
of money, goods, or credits than is hereinbefore allowed, shall be void: Provided, however, That
no merely clerical error in the computation of interest, made without intent to evade any of the
provisions of this Act, shall render a contract void: Provided, further, That parties to a loan
agreement, the proceeds of which may be availed of partially or fully at some future time, may
stipulate that the rate of interest agreed upon at the time the loan agreement is entered into,
which rate shall not exceed the maximum allowed by law, shall prevail notwithstanding
subsequent changes in the maximum rates that may be made by the Monetary Board: And
Provided, finally, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the purchase by an
innocent purchaser of a negotiable mercantile paper, usurious or otherwise, for valuable
consideration before maturity, when there has been no intention on the part of said purchaser to
evade the provisions of this Act and said purchase was not a part of the original usurious
transaction. In any case, however, the maker of said note shall have the right to recover from
said original holder the whole interest paid by him thereon and, in case of litigation, also the
costs and such attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court.
Central Bank Circular No. 416 Series of 1974

CIRCULAR NO. 416

Series of 2004
Pursuant to Monetary Board Resolution No. 1843 dated 18 December 2003, approving the
amendment to the guidelines on the adoption of the risk-based capital adequacy framework
under Circular No. 280 dated 29 March 2001, as amended, the provisions of the Manual of
Regulations for Banks are hereby amended as follows:
1. Subsection X116.2 is amended to reflect (1) the reduction in the risk weight of multilateral
development banks from 20% to 0%; and (2) to remove loans to exporters to the extent
guaranteed by the Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (GFSME) from the list of
0% risk weighted assets, as follows:
0% risk weight
(1) Cash on hand;
(2) Claims on or portions of claims guaranteed by or collateralized by securities issued by i. Philippine national government and BSP; and
ii. Central governments and central banks of foreign countries with the highest credit quality as
defined in Subsec. X116.3;
(3) Claims on or portions of claims guaranteed by or collateralized by securities issued by
multilateral development banks;
(4) Loans to the extent covered by hold-out on, or assignment of deposits/deposit substitutes
maintained with the lending bank;
(5) Loans or acceptances under letters of credit to the extent covered by margin deposits;
(6) Portions of special time deposit loans covered by Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund (IGLF)
guarantee;
(7) Real estate mortgage loans to the extent guaranteed by the Home Guaranty Corporation
(HGC);
(8) Loans to the extent guaranteed by the Trade and Investment Development Corporation of
the Philippines (TIDCORP);
(9) Foreign currency notes and coins on hand acceptable as international reserves; and
(10) Gold bullion held either in own vaults, or in anothers vaults on an allocated basis, to the
extent it is offset by gold bullion liabilities;
20% risk weight
(1) Checks and other cash items;
(2) Claims on or portions of claims guaranteed by or collateralized by securities issued by noncentral government public sector entities of foreign countries with the highest credit quality as
defined in Subsec. X116.3;
(3) Claims on or portions of claims guaranteed by Philippine incorporated banks/quasi-banks
with the highest credit quality as defined in Subsec. X116.3;
(4) Claims on or portions of claims guaranteed by foreign incorporated banks with the highest
credit quality as defined in Subsec. X116.3;

(5) Loans to exporters to the extent guaranteed by Small Business Guarantee and Finance
Corporation (SBGFC): Provided, That loans to exporters to the extent guaranteed by the
Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (GFSME) outstanding as of the date of the
effectivity of the merger of the SBGFC and the GFSME shall continue to have a zero percent risk
weight: Provided, further, That the zero percent risk weight shall not apply to loans renewed after
the merger of the SBGFC and the GFSME.
(6) Foreign currency checks and other cash items denominated in currencies acceptable as
international reserves; and
(7) Claims on Philippine incorporated banks, which claims obtain and maintain credit ratings of
at least equal to that of the Philippine national government from a BSP recognized international
credit rating agency;
2. Subsection X116.3 is amended to expand the list of multilateral development banks assigned
a zero percent risk weight, as follows:
u. Multilateral development banks. These refer to the World Bank Group comprised of the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Inter-American Development
Bank (IADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB);the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB); the
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEDB) and such
others as may be recognized by the BSP.
This Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication either in the Official Gazette or
in a newspaper of general circulation.
RA 3765 Trust in Lending Act
Section 4. Any creditor shall furnish to each person to whom credit is extended, prior to the
consummation of the transaction, a clear statement in writing setting forth, to the extent
applicable and in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Board, the following
information:
(1) the cash price or delivered price of the property or service to be acquired;
(2) the amounts, if any, to be credited as down payment and/or trade-in;
(3) the difference between the amounts set forth under clauses (1) and (2);
(4) the charges, individually itemized, which are paid or to be paid by such person in connection
with the transaction but which are not incident to the extension of credit;
(5) the total amount to be financed;
(6) the finance charge expressed in terms of pesos and centavos; and
(7) the percentage that the finance bears to the total amount to be financed expressed as a
simple annual rate on the outstanding unpaid balance of the obligation.
Section 6. (a) Any creditor who in connection with any credit transaction fails to disclose to any
person any information in violation of this Act or any regulation issued thereunder shall be liable
to such person in the amount of P100 or in an amount equal to twice the finance charged
required by such creditor in connection with such transaction, whichever is the greater, except
that such liability shall not exceed P2,000 on any credit transaction. Action to recover such
penalty may be brought by such person within one year from the date of the occurrence of the
violation, in any court of competent jurisdiction. In any action under this subsection in which any

person is entitled to a recovery, the creditor shall be liable for reasonable attorney's fees and
court costs as determined by the court.
(b) Except as specified in subsection (a) of this section, nothing contained in this Act or any
regulation contained in this Act or any regulation thereunder shall affect the validity or
enforceability of any contract or transactions.
(c) Any person who willfully violates any provision of this Act or any regulation issued thereunder
shall be fined by not less than P1,00 or more than P5,000 or imprisonment for not less than 6
months, nor more than one year or both.
(d) No punishment or penalty provided by this Act shall apply to the Philippine Government or
any agency or any political subdivision thereof.
(e) A final judgment hereafter rendered in any criminal proceeding under this Act to the effect
that a defendant has willfully violated this Act shall be prima facie evidence against such
defendant in an action or proceeding brought by any other party against such defendant under
this Act as to all matters respecting which said judgment would be an estoppel as between the
parties thereto.