The BSP has been fostering a more liberal regulatory environment, built on strong prudential supervision foundation to promote a more inclusive and accessible financial system. Among others, we have liberalized branching to boost the efficient delivery of financial services, including microfinance, to areas with minimal access to banking services.
In other words, price-based regulation is more flexible, in that it leaves the size decision to bank managers, who can then base their decision on their own understanding of the synergies – or lack thereof – in their respective businesses.