Ever since the Asian financial crisis of 1997, measures have been put in place to ensure that such a crisis would not affect the country in a big way. To further improve the capacity of banks to face adverse shocks, and to reinforce the institutional framework to deal with problem banks in the face of the Asian crisis, the BSP adopted a programme of reforms, which included: a further increase in the minimum capital requirements; stricter requirements for granting new bank licences, as well as for setting up new branches; higher qualification requirements for bank directors and senior officers; tighter regulations on insider loans; stringent rules on the restructuring of loans, and redefinition of non-performing loans to align with the international standards; After all these were put into place. Because of the way the country;s central bank has put these standards into play. This creates significant barriers that would limit or make it difficult for new competitors to enter into the Banking Industry in the Philippines, considering all the capital needed to compete with Banco De Oro, the biggest chain of private banks in the country. It would be an insurmountable task at hand. However, with the ASEAN countries planning on a regional economic integration by the year 2015, these barriers may be lowered with foreign banks looking to make a mark in the Philippines. In a decisive step toward ASEAN banking integration, central bank governors from around the region came together in early April 2011 to endorse the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework (ABIF). This framework is part of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, which promises to bring economic benefits and financial stability to individual countries and the region through multilateral liberalisation by 2015. The banking sectorwill particularly need to stay ahead of the game to facilitate investors and to support their moves throughout the region. Singaporean and Malaysian banks and telecoms, for instance, have invested heavily in the region and seem to be slightly ahead of other competitors in better preparing themselves for the AEC. This is where BDO lacks, it has made its impact in the country and is dominating the market in the private bank sector as of now, There is no threat of a new entrant to but with the AEC upon us, and regional financial integration approaching, the threat of new entry will be quite high, with other major banks in the neighbouring countries, positioning themselves already for this.