Tax collections from insurance com­panies rose 12 percent in 2015 from the previous year, Insurance Com­mission (IC) data showed.

Major lender Bank of the Phil­ippine Islands (BPI) and West­pac Banking Corp. (Westpac), Australia’s first bank, recently entered into a strategic part­nership to facilitate low cost and fast transfer of funds from Filipinos living in Australia to their families in the Philippines.

Foreign direct investments (FDI)  net inflows reached FDI net in­flows in August 2016 reached $711 million in August, 32 per­cent higher from a year ago.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved listed China Banking Corp.’s (China Bank) plan to issue up to P20 billion in long-term negotiable certificates of time deposits (LTNCD).

Local industries are ex­pected to benefit from the Japan-Philippines Industrial Coopera­tion Initiative forged by the trade and industry depart­ments of Manila and Tokyo.

By Riza Lozada The price of freshly-listed Pil­ipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. shares closed strong on Friday, rising P2.50 to P69.50 each from its initial public offer (IPO) debut of P67 despite the market being at an oversold level.

Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF), through unit Centu­ry Pacific Seacrest Inc., recent­ly acquired the license to the Kamayan trademark for North America.

AboitizLand, the property de­veloper unit of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), plans to un­dertake five housing projects next year worth about P4 bil­lion located outside Metro Manila, riding on the growth of residential property market.

By Riza Lozada The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently allowed mi­crofinance-oriented small bank to convert into a regular thrift bank.

Salary-based general-purpose consumption loans (SGPCL) con­tinue to expand bank lending, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP).