Rural Banks Act (Republic Act No. 7353). Country/Territory Philippines Document type Legislation Date 1992 Source FAO, FAOLEX Original source Official Gazette No. 21, 25 May 1992, pp. 3059-3073. Long titleAn Act providing for the creation, organization and operation of rural banks, and for other purposes. Subject Agricultural & rural development Keyword Agricultural development Special fund Cultural heritage Geographical area Asia, Asia and the Pacific, East Asian Seas, North Pacific, South-Eastern Asia Abstract The Act governs the establishment of a rural banking system designed to provide credit facilities to farmers, fishermen, merchants, their cooperatives, small business enterprises and to rural communities in general (sects. 3, 6 and 7). Rural banks shall operate under the authority of a Certificate from the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, and are to be organized in the form of stock corporations. The capital stock of rural banks is to be fully owned by citizens of the Philippines or corporations, associations or cooperatives qualified under Philippine law to own such capital stock (sect. 4). Loans may be granted by rural banks against security of lands held under a variety of titles, which can be foreclosed (sect. 6). Government banking institutions are mandated by the Act to subscribe to the capital stock of rural banks in an amount equal to the total equity investment of the private shareholders, with a view to supplementing the capital available to rural banks until these have accumulated enough capital of their own. Special provisions govern the stock so held by Government banking institutions (sect. 8). These are also allowed to lend to rural banks at concessional interest rates, repayable in ten years, against security of stock or other, offered by the stockholders of the rural bank (sect. 14). The Monetary Board shall supervise the business of rural banks, and may take over the management of any such bank whose operations are found to be in breach of the law (sect. 11). Fines and terms of imprisonment, in relation to a series of offences, are included, in particular, corruption of rural bank employees (sect. 25). Full text English