Biz Buzz: Condo transfer scam?

Rumors are going around that a prominent Chinoy family—which owns one of the biggest construction companies in the country and whose company name is seen plastered across construction cranes in many skyscraper construction sites—is involved in a multimillion-peso scam, together with a Korean national and the son of a socialite-lawmaker.

The supposed scam, according to our sources, involves the transfer to the name of this construction family of the titles to several condominium units in a building in the heart of Makati City, all without paying a single centavo for them.

This was allegedly done with the participation of the former lawyer of the company, which owns the condominium units. Officials then authorized the sale to the prejudice of the company’s Filipino stockholders.

According to our sources, charges of estafa, falsification and the non-bailable crime of qualified theft are about to be filed against this Chinoy family and its business group.

Would we be seeing individuals going to jail without bail before Christmas and a lawyer disbarred soon? Watch this space, folks. Daxim L. Lucas

CS, HSBC, BDO reap honors

THEY’VE been quietly toiling away for many years, but it seems that the local unit of investment banking powerhouse Credit Suisse is finally getting the public recognition it deserves.

Guided by Asia-Pacific vice chair Lito Camacho (and run locally by banker Johnny Escaler), Credit Suisse was recently named by the “The Asset” magazine as the best foreign investment house in the Philippines.

Few saw that award coming, given that Credit Suisse has generally preferred to shun the limelight in recent years when it comes to executing big deals. But big deals they have aplenty. The investment bank had so far completed four equity deals for Philippine National Bank, Sinophil Corp., Store Specialists Inc. and Ayala Corp. It also had a number of debt deals like the ICTSI bonds and another bond transaction for San Miguel Global Power.

And given the benefits of recognition it is receiving, you can expect to see a more aggressive Credit Suisse team on the ground working for morning Philippine deals in the coming months.

Meanwhile, HSBC was also named by “The Asset” as the Philippines’ best debt house. Much of the credit goes to HSBC’s Philippine chief Wick Veloso who, as the first Filipino country head of the British bank, has proven that Filipino bankers can mix it up and are just as good as any expatriate banker.

Finally, “The Asset” also recognized the country’s biggest banking group, BDO Unibank headed by Nestor Tan, as the Philippines’ best domestic bank, while its investment banking unit, BDO Capital headed by Ed Francisco, was named best domestic investment bank.

BDO—the banking arm of the Sy family—has so far been recognized by “The Asset” twice, while BDO Capital has been honored by the magazine a staggering nine times. Daxim L. Lucas

Prima donna ex-Cabinet man

SOME ex-Cabinet officials just don’t know how to let go of their past as they continue to strut around their previous offices as if they still ran the place.

Take the case of this former Cabinet official who went into private ventures right after he left public office, promoting himself as a policy advocate, strategic thinker and eventually, even as a direct investor. One of his first forays, however, immediately hit a snag.

Years ago, his team participated in a government auction. Up for grabs was a big coal-fired power plant owned by National Power Corp., a crown jewel in the government’s privatization program.

His was the team to beat. It had an international powerhouse of experts, top-gun lawyers, bankers and deep pockets. The expectations were nothing short of an aggressive and over-the-top bid, one that would set a new record. The trouble was, the foreign powerhouse did not even get to the stage where its bid price could be opened as it was disqualified at the onset for submitting a defective bid security.

At this stage, the former Cabinet official made a grand personal appearance to address the bidding committee, most of whom were his former subordinates. Discussions were done behind closed doors, delaying the bid process by several hours. At the end of the day the former Cabinet official was still rebuffed.

More recently, the Cabinet official has apparently not changed his diva style. In the tightly contested race for feed-in-tariff eligibility (where power producers/developers using renewable energy sources compete against each other on a first-come-first-served basis, up to a maximum of 200 megawatts for wind energy, to be entitled to a guaranteed fixed price approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission), this former Cabinet official was heard ordering an agency’s top brass to interpret the relevant rules to favor his so-called projects.

The problem is that this prima donna has met his match in the agency’s incumbent secretary, who is no pushover in both politics and business circles. The former Cabinet official got his comeuppance and his request was rejected without any explanation from the incumbent.

The former Cabinet official, who does not know when to quit, is reportedly planning to take his grudge campaign to the regulatory watchdog. Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

Spillover from Macau, China

The Philippines may benefit from new policy restrictions in Macau and mainland China, at least in the near term, a research note from Credit Suisse has predicted.

Visits to Macau by Chinese nationals are now restricted to once every two months under a new individual visitor scheme, but Chinese nationals travel to Macau under a transit visa to work around this, the research said.

Under such a transit visa, Chinese citizens can stay in Macau for five days, fly to another country and then return to Macau and stay for five more days.

“As the Philippine gaming market grows, we believe that the Philippines will be a chief destination for players traveling with transit visas because it is a convenient two-hour flight away. The shorter travel time means a lower opportunity cost for the junket operators,” the research said.

Tighter restrictions in China are also seen prompting junket operators to direct high-profile Chinese gamblers away from Macau to other locations. Credit Suisse noted the ongoing crackdown on corruption has placed a significant focus on the illegal transfer of funds overseas and has thus contributed to Macau’s recent declines in gambling revenues.

“Considering the Philippines’ active casino project pipeline and the relatively close proximity between the two countries, we believe that the Philippines is primed to become a viable alternative to Chinese gamblers, resulting in a spillover of VIP revenues to the Philippines,” it said. Doris C. Dumlao

Partnership guessing game

LISTED mass housing developer 8990 Holdings has yet to reveal who its prospective operator would be for the commercial part of its upcoming integrated condominium-shopping malls in Ortigas and Tondo. But one name consistently keeps cropping up.

Of course, their shared values in terms of the target market makes Henry Sy’s SM group the likely partner but that would only be partly true, if our market sources are correct.

We hear 8990 Holdings is actually in talks with the Walter Mart group, where SM has a stake.

8990 Holdings president and CEO Januario Jesus Atencio declined to confirm this, saying that talks are still ongoing with a potential partner. Walter Mart, meanwhile, does meet the requirement of an experienced commercial space operator, with about 20 locations.

On its website, Walter Mart brands itself as the first “community shopping center format in southern Luzon” with “convenience” as its main customer proposition.

Would residents of the upcoming 8990 Holdings projects benefit from such a proposition? We’ll find out soon enough. Miguel R. Camus

Miners in Makati

“DON’T blame the government; blame yourselves.” This sums up the response of feisty Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to a question on mining revenue-sharing asked by a representative of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) during last week’s International Tax Forum organized by the Department of Finance.

Following the session that discussed the taxation of extractive industries, the COMP representative asked Finance officials: What is the government doing to distribute revenues from mineral resources in an equitable way? He cited that it takes three long years before local governments get their share—making communities that host mining operations feeling left out of the financial benefits.

To this question, Henares answered: “There’s also a problem with the mining companies—because if you look at it, they all register in Makati. If you register where you mine, then the benefit of that business activity will go to the place where you are. But because all of you register in Makati, the business tax is generated not by where you are depleting the resources—it goes to a city that did not even invest on anything.”

“So you cannot say that it’s the government’s fault. It’s the fault of the company itself. Why don’t you register in the place where you are, so that your taxes do go to the people where you are depleting the resources?” the BIR chief further pointed out at the forum, which was held at a posh hotel in Makati, no less.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran agreed with Henares, adding that most manufacturers also register their businesses in the country’s financial hub.

“In Makati, the revenues are pouring out of their ears. They give money to… I don’t want to talk about it,” said the DOF’s chief economist, earning cheers from the audience comprised mostly of tax professionals. Ben O. de Vera

E-mail us at [email protected]. Get business alerts and a preview of Biz Buzz the evening before it comes out. Text ON INQ BUSINESS to 4467 (P2.50/alert).