MANILA, Philippines—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shut down on Thursday two Pampanga-based rural banks, the first ones to fall this new year, after the ailing lenders suspended operations voluntarily.

The two new banks placed under the receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. were Rural Bank of Sta. Rita and Rural Bank of Bacolor, the central bank announced in a statement.

The BSP said that with the exception of these two banks, the rural banking sector in Pampanga remained “strong” and “healthy.” The central bank advised the public to “avoid making sweeping judgment on the condition of individual banks or to pass on baseless rumors.”

There are now 20 remaining Pampanga-based rural banks with a combined asset base of more than P8 billion, deposit base of more than P6 billion and close to P1.5 billion in capital accounts.

“As a whole, these rural banks have consistently recorded healthy double-digit growth rates in deposits received and loans granted between December 2007 and September 2008,” the BSP said.

It was noted that the consolidated capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of the remaining 20 Pampanga-based rural banks stood at 19.9 percent or nearly double the 10 percent minimum required by the BSP and more than twice the international standard of 8 percent.

The capital adequacy ratio or the ratio of a bank's capital to its risk reflects a bank's ability to absorb losses.

“The receivership enables the PDIC to take over the banks' assets to protect the interest of bank depositors and to start processing deposit insurance claims,” the BSP said.

Shortly before the long Christmas break, 15 rural banks were shut down by the BSP due to insolvency -- or lack of assets to cover liabilities, leaving a total of over 135,000 accounts to be carefully evaluated and verified prior to payout.

Most of the banks padlocked by the BSP before the Christmas break were believed to be related to the bankrupt Legacy pre-need and investment group. However, the spate of closures has affected public confidence even in those not related to the troubled pre-need and investment group.

In a forum with the Rotary Club of Manila, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said amendments to the central bank's charter could boost its capability to act swiftly against unscrupulous groups getting involved in banking institutions.

Among others, proposed amendments seek to provide the BSP with the legal mandate to direct banks to accept new investors or merge with a white knight as well as slap stiffer sanctions on erring banks and bank officers. Another key measure proposed was to insulate BSP personnel from harassment suits.

The proposed new charter requires prior BSP approval of transfers or acquisitions of substantial number of shares of supervised institutions, to prevent the entry of “undesirable” persons into the banking system.

The adequacy of banks' capital will also be maintained by empowering the BSP to direct the infusion of capital, direct banks to accept new investors as well as merge or consolidate with a qualified financial institution to prevent bank failures. At the same time, administrative sanctions on violations shall be raised.

In 2008, a group of 10 banks believed to be affiliated with the Legacy group engaged the BSP in a legal battle and constrained the banking regulator from taking action based on the findings of deficiency submitted by its examiners. The court case delayed the closure of these banks but a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court allowed the BSP to finally take action before the long Christmas break.