Effective January 1, 2014, retail investors (meaning, individuals) will not be allowed to invest in Special Deposit Accounts (SDA) anymore, according to a recent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) memorandum.
BSP Memo number 2013-021 issued on May 20, 2013 restricted access to SDAs only to trust accounts and Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs). “Other fiduciary business including agency accounts and investment management activities (IMA) shall no longer have access to the said facility,” the memo explained.