Biz Buzz: Star-struck MVP

Being the patron of the recent NBA All-Stars vs PBA Smart Gilas basketball showdown in Manila, businessman and sports enthusiast Manuel V. Pangilinan, a.k.a “MVP,” got to bring home the ball used during the much-raved about games, which he, in turn, gave to one lucky nephew.

Aside from the ball, there was another much-coveted souvenir that MVP got to keep, which was a jersey given to him by NBA star Chris Paul (a.k.a. “CP3”) of the New Orleans Hornets. It was the same jersey, freshly taken off after one of the games, which he had signed for MVP.

But the very next day when MVP was looking for the autographed CP3 jersey, he was aghast to find out that his souvenir was no longer in “mint” condition. His super-efficient housekeeper, who probably had no idea about its history, had taken the initiative of washing the garment in an apparent attempt to remove unsightly Pentel pen markings and human sweat. CP3’s jersey, though still an interesting keepsake, thus became a less valuable sports museum piece overnight.

MVP, however, has an opportunity to collect more of such treasures if and when he brings more of such games to Manila. Of course, the ultimate NBA treasure could be a basketball franchise.—Doris C. Dumlao

Three-peat

Not a few bank regulators heaved a sigh of relief when the Court of Appeals recently dismissed the P25-billion claim of shuttered Banco Filipino against the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

What’s so special about the decision? Well, a lower court—a regional trial court, to be exact—had earlier ruled that the BSP was obligated to grant Banco Filipino a P25-billion financial assistance package and had actually tried to have it enforced.

The dismissal of this case by the appellate court thus means that this alleged entitlement no longer has any basis (saving taxpayers a few billion pesos in the process).

More importantly, however, Banco Filipino has long claimed that it is not insolvent by virtue of this P25-billion package allegedly due to it. This expected inflow of money is the basis for the bank’s statement that it should not be placed under receivership by the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. Does this mean that this stand of the bank no longer has any legal basis? Hmm.

Incidentally, BSP’s win at the Court of Appeals marks a “three-peat” of court victories for the bank regulator through the cooperation of its own lawyers and its external counsels, CVC Law (a.k.a. The Firm), which include Simeon Marcelo, John Balisnomo and Gus San Pedro.—Daxim L. Lucas

Philamlife’s latest recruit

Fund manager Eduardo “Junie” Banaag, who was responsible for making First Metro Asset Management’s equity-based mutual fund the best-performing among its peers, has become too hot a commodity that he was recently given an offer he could not refuse. Effective September, he will leave the First Metro group to join the AIA group (parent of Philamlife) as its fund manager for the Philippines.

This seems to be part of Philamlife’s strategy to woo back some of its best alumni (CEO Rex Mendoza is a “balikbayan,” too) as Banaag will only be reclaiming a position he had left in 1996. As a consequence, the AIA group has terminated a fund management contract with global institution PineBridge Investments and decided instead to hire its own fund manager, a strategy adopted across Asia.—Doris C. Dumlao

New face for M-Place

Property developer SM Development Corp., which started the trend of celebrity endorsers to sell condominium units in the Philippines, recently added a new young star among its celebrity endorsers, and for a change, got a male model! As seen gracing the company’s very recent print ads opposite Kim Chiu, actor Matteo Guidicelli is SMDC’s latest celebrity endorser for the brand M-Place, which offers residential units affordable even to young people who may only be starting a professional career.

SMDC senior vice president Rose Qua says getting Matteo on board is a timely move considering the interest on the young pair in the telenovela “Binondo Girl.” Do stars really boost sales? Not exactly, Ms. Qua says. “But they do bring the crowd and when the crowd is there, that’s when we sell to them.”—Doris C. Dumlao

Audit movements

The local unit of British banking giant HSBC has not only transferred headquarters and ditched its lofty neon signboard at the top of The Enterprise Center … it has also changed its longtime auditor.

According to our sources, HSBC has transferred its lucrative auditing account from SGV & Co. to Manabat Sanagustin, which is the local partner of global audit firm KPMG.

Of course, the move is in line with the worldwide transfer of HSBC’s account to KPMG.

This latest addition to Manabat Sanagustin’s portfolio adds to its growing roster of high-profile clients, which include the local units of Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, San Miguel Corp., Petron Corp. and, according to our sources, Total Petroleum.

It helps, of course, that Manabat Sanagustin has on its roll of officers former Finance Undersecretary Noel Bonoan, who is familiar with the ins and outs of the country’s taxation system.—Daxim L. Lucas

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