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THE
Senate and the House of Representatives inched closer to
ratifying a consolidated version of the proposed Credit
Information Systems (CIS) Act crafted to give the
country a healthier and more stable financial structure.
A
bicameral conference committee, cochaired by Sen.
Edgardo Angara and Rep. Luis Villafuerte, yesterday
hammered out a joint report on the reconciled measure,
expecting their colleagues in both chambers to ratify a
“legislative milestone” during this week’s session.
Explaining the significance of the Credit Information
System (CIS), Angara said: “We are creating a milestone
here. A tool for financial development that can reduce
the risk of credit, allow more people to access it, and
ultimately contribute to a healthier and more stable
financial system.”
He added
that the final version of the Senate-House bill on
Credit Information System is “a major step toward
unlocking money because lenders will now be more
comfortable to assess their risk of lending; while banks
will know beforehand the credit history of their
borrowers.”
Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial
Institutions and Currencies, asserted that early
approval of the CIS bill would enable the country to
improve a “constricted” credit system. The CIS, he said,
would improve the availability of credit to small- and
medium-scale enterprises; provide mechanisms to make
credit more cost-effective; and reduce excessive
dependence on collateral to secure credit facility.
As main
author of Senate Bill 1881, Angara envisioned a
financial structure that establishes a comprehensive and
centralized credit-information system for the collection
and dissemination of fair and accurate information
relevant to credit and credit-related activities of
entities participating in the financial system.
He said
a credit-information system would address the need for
reliable credit information concerning the credit
standing and track record of borrowers. |
