PBCom exits 10-year government assistance program

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Bank of Communications has graduated from a 10-year government assistance program with the full settlement of a P7.6 billion loan from the Philippine Deposit and Insurance Corp.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, PBCom said it has fully paid the loan to PDIC under its 10-year financial assistance agreement (FAA) signed in 2004.

“With this payment, PBCom successfully exits from the financial support of the PDIC under the FAA,” the bank said.

As a consequence, four PDIC nominees in PBCom’s board of directors resigned from their posts. These are Roberto Macasaet, Raul Serrano, Teresita Ang-See and Imelda Singzon.

When PBCom was placed under the government’s financial assistance program, the key shareholders then —the Luy, Chung and Nubla families— committed to cede the controlling stake in the bank to a new investor.

In 2011, a group led by former Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin took over a controlling stake in PBCom. The group, the lone bidder in a public bidding, paid P4.6 billion to acquire 97 percent of the commercial bank.

Ongpin, however, quit as chair of the board early last year, citing the need to make a “financial sacrifice” and spare the bank from any backlash that could arise from his legal battle with a ranking central bank official. Ongpin also sold 6.13 million common shares and 15.36 million preferred shares of PBCom to Eric Recto, the bank chairman who is also his nephew.

As of end-September 2013, PBCom had a balance sheet of about P60 billion. It ranked 21st largest among the country’s 36 commercial banks.

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