Philippine Central Bank Suspends eSabong Operations

In line with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued Memorandum 2022-026 last May 24, 2022 which orders all BSP Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFI) to refrain from facilitating eSabong transactions.

 

The BSP ordered the (1) delisting of eSabong operators in the mobile and internet applications of BSFIs, (2) advising clients to cash-out their funds from existing eSabong accounts to e-wallets within 30 days from the issuance of the memorandum, and (3) notifying clients of the disabling of the links from e-wallets to eSabong accounts after the 30-day transition period.

 

The BSP also reminded BSFIs to deal only with gambling and/or online gaming businesses that are authorized/licensed or registered with the appropriate government agency duly empowered by law or its charter to license/authorize entities or businesses to engage in such activities.

 

The full issuance can be accessed here.