Banking & Finance

By Jerry Maglunog In the late 1980s, there were about 1,200 rural banks that provided credit in the countryside. It was the heyday of the rural-bank industry when fewer than 200 of them had assets of close to P1 billion.

Commercial banks, as well as their credit-card affiliates, report very high consumer lending, showing an increasing number of Filipinos spending more as a result of a robust economy.

By Luis Leoncio Credit watchdog Fitch Rating, affirming the investment rating on the country last Friday, failed to impress Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who claimed the country remains underrated.

By Jerry Maglunog With the inflation rate stable, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has decided to close down its so-called special deposit account (SDA) window which has attracted more than P2 trillion in deposits.

By Riza Lozada Local lender Security Bank Corp. (SEBC) and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) completed the strategic partnership deal signed on Jan. 14, resulting in P36.9 billion in fresh cash infusions into SECB.

Gabriel C. Singson, one of the most amiable governors of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), died on Mar. 29 at the age of 87.

Rural banks (RBs) are fast disappearing, based on the Rural Bankers’ Association of the Philippines (RBAP) latest count, which showed that, within the last nine months, 23 small banks have closed shop, mainly as a result of stricter capitalization rules imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

By Riza Lozada  Major lender Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) reduced to 12 from 14 its number of directors to improve compliance with corporate governance best practices.

The Bureau of the Treasury’s liability-management deal, jointly managed by the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and other banks, was awarded the deal of the year prize at the Investment House Association of the Philippines (IHAP) Awards 2016. The Philippines closed on Sept. 9, 2015, this domestic liability-management transaction. 

By Jerry Maglunog Due to the growing number of banks that are included in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) prompt and corrective action (PCA) list, the central bank is stepping up its supervisory policy to target bank owners, directors and major shareholders of ailing banks.