SEC. 50. It shall be prohibited for the Reserve Bank:
(a) To issue notes of a denomination below one peso or over one thousand pesos;
(b) To engage in trade, or otherwise have a direct interest in any commercial, industrial or agricultural under taking;
(c) To own real property except as authorized in this Act; .
(d) To pay interest on money deposited on current accounts;
(e) To grant renewals of promissory notes of member banks, matured bills of exchange, promissory notes and other similar documents discounted or rediscounted by the Reserve Bank, provided that under exceptional circumstances, the Board may by resolution, authorize, in accordance with this Act, not more than one renewal of any such bill, promissory notes or documents as aforesaid;
(f) To make advances to the Government or its political subdivisions, either directly or indirectly, except in the manner and in the-amount provided for in this Act;
(g) To grant loans or advances without security;
(h) To deal directly with any person, company, firm or corporation except in connection with its open market operations.
Any Governor, officer, or employee of the Reserve Bank who knowingly violates or knowingly permits any of the officers, or employees oi the Reserve Bank to violate the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not to exceed five thousand pesos or by imprisonment net to exceed five years or by both such fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 51. Any Governor, officer, agent or employee of the Reserve Bank or its branches, or any membeir bank, who shall willfully violate any provisions of this Act not specifically punished in this Act, or permits its violation, or shall resort to any device, or receive any fictitious obligation, directly or collaterally, in order to evade the provisions thereof, or who shall certify a check before the amount thereof shall have been regularly deposited.in the bank by the drawer, and any person aiding and abetting the commission of any of the said acts, shall be punished by a fine not"to exceed five thousand pesos or by an imprisonment for a term not to exceed five years or by both such fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 52. The Secretary of Finance, the Auditor General, and the Governors, officers and employees of the Reserve Bank, shall.not either directly or indirectly, for himself or as the representative or agent of others, borrow money from die Reserve Bank, nor shall become a guarantor, indorser, or surety for loans, discounts or rediscounts from the Reserve Bank to member banks or other persons, corporations or associations, or in any manner be an obligor for moneys borrowed of the Reserve Bank or loaned by it,. The office of those who violate the provisions of this section shall immediately be declared vacant,and the guilty shall be punish-ed^by imprisonment not exceeding five years and by a fine of not more than five thousand pesos.
SEC 53. No fee, commission, gift, or charge of any kind shall be exacted, demanded or paid for obtaining loans, discount or rediscount from the Reserve Bank, and any officer, employee, or agent of the said Reserve Bank exacting, demanding, or receiving any fee, commission, gift or charge of any kind said services to obtain a loan discount or rediscount, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand pesos or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, at the direction of the Court.
SEC. 54. Whoever, for the purpose of obtaining any loan from the Reserve Bank, or any extension or renewal therefor, or the acceptance, release, or substitution of security therefor, or for the purpose of including the Reverse Bank to purchase any assets, or fro the purpose of obtaining the payment of any deposit or transferred deposit or the allowance, approval, or payment of any claim, or for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the Reserve Bank, makes any statement, knowing it to be false, or willfully overvalues any security, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand pesos or by imprisonment of not more than years, or both.
SEC. 55. Any Governor who accept a position or employment of any kind in any bank except the Agricultural and Industrial Bank of the Philippines, while holding office or wothin the one year subsequent to vacating his office, shall be punished by imprisonment of not more than one year or a fine of one thousand pesos.
SEC. 56. Any person who, without lawful justification or excuse, hinders, obstructs, or delays any person authorized by the Reserve Bank to make an inspection of the books and accounts of a member bank for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness in any material particular of, any return submitted by such member bank, or for any other reason which, in the opinion of the Board, is desirable for the public interest, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand pesos or by imprisonment of not more than five years, or both.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ACT
Sec. 57. This Act shall take effect on January .first, nineteen hundred and forty, but the president of the Philippines may advance the date of said effectivity by a proclamation.
Approved, June 9, 1939.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
