BSP shutters rural bank

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last week shuttered a rural bank in Rizal province due to insolvency, bringing the number of closed banks, mostly rural banks, so far this year to 22.

The Monetary Board—the BSP’s policymaking body—in a Dec. 8 resolution prohibited Eastern Rizal (Jalajala) Rural Bank Inc. from doing business, state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) said in a statement late Friday.

As designated receiver, the PDIC on Dec. 9 took over the three-unit rural bank as well as its affairs, assets, branches and records. Its head office was located in Jalajala, Rizal, while its two branches were in Cainta, Rizal and Marikina City.

According to PDIC, Eastern Rizal (Jalajala) Rural Bank’s bank information sheet showed that as of June 30, it was owned by the following: Maribel V. Serrano (29.57 percent), Ramon F. Villavicencio (29.42 percent), Mary Ann V. Sy (28.02 percent) and Hedley O. Serrano (8.21 percent).

Its president and chair was Maribel Serrano, the biggest shareholder, PDIC said.

The rural bank’s latest records also showed that as of June 30, it had 3,216 accounts with total deposit liabilities of P47.8 million, of which 99.1 percent or P47.4 million were insured deposits.

“Recognizing the need for depositors to have immediate access to their insured deposits during the Yuletide season, the state deposit insurer initiated a special pay-out procedure which will give the depositors of the bank an opportunity to claim their deposit insurance before Christmas. Instead of PDIC’s usual process of mailing deposit insurance payments to depositors with bank balances of P100,000 and below, these depositors may directly claim their deposit insurance at the bank’s head office in Jalajala, Rizal or at its Cainta branch, on Dec. 19-22. Depositors whose balances are over P100,000 may also claim their deposit insurance during this period,” it said.
The Monetary Board also closed down thrift bank GSIS Family Bank this year. —BEN O. DE VERA