Banking & Finance

By Riza Lozada Growth in local trade resulted in foreign- currency (forex) borrowings among local banks to grow 11.4 percent in the first quarter, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the change of name of insurance holding company Generali Pilipinas Holding Cp. Inc. (GPHC) to BDO Life Assurance Holdings Corp. (BDO Life Holdings), and its wholly-owned life insurance company, Generali Pilipinas Life Assurance Company Inc. (GPLAC), to BDO Life Assurance Company Inc. (BDO Life), BDO Unibank reported to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Bond yields in most emerging East Asian markets continued to track lower from March 1 to May 15, except for the Philippines and China, as investors factored in forecasts of continued slow growth for the global economy, Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest Asia Bond Monitor said.

Any change in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) policy rates is expected to happen only in the first half of 2017, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), the fourth largest bank by market capitalization in Australia, said after the BSP kept monetary policy settings unchanged last week. 

Asia-Pacific real-estate investment trust (REITs) have built up strong credit foundations that will stand them in good stead to withstand a market shock, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings said in a report.

By Riza Lozada The overall balance-of-payments (BOP) surplus in 2016 is expected to taper off to $2.0 billion from $2.2 billion in the December 2015 projection, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported. 

Credit-rating firm Fitch Ratings has backed findings of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on the possibility of a real-estate price bubble, as property prices continue to rise amid the rapid improvement in the economy and the business-process outsourcing (BPO) boom.

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is focusing on its core lending business to drive profit, which, in the first four months, grew by 28.1 percent. 

Business confidence is up, based on the quarterly Business Expectation Survey (BES) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Former directors and officers of the failed LBC Development Bank Inc. (LBC Bank) were charged in a new round of criminal cases due to unsound practices that sent the lender into bankruptcy, according to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).