Biz Buzz: ‘No Lopez hand’
Amid swirling rumors that the Lopez group is the hidden hand behind the controversy facing businessman Roberto Ongpin, Senator Serge Osmeña—who has led the charge against the former Marcos trade minister in the Senate—has dismissed the theory.
The theory, of course, is that the influential family is out to get Ongpin and his business associates in an effort to recover their lost crown jewel, Meralco (an alternative angle being that the fight is over some distressed debt securities of the Lopezes, which Ongpin scooped up and made a killing on, essentially profiting from the former’s misery).
Osmeña, who recently visited the Inquirer to detail his findings against Ongpin, denied that the Lopezes were behind his moves, despite his known closeness to the family (he and the family’s late patriarch Eugenio Jr. were incarcerated by President Marcos in the Fort Bonifacio stockade and they escaped into exile together … or they were allowed to escape, if you believe Imelda Marcos’ version). Senator Osmeña is also married to a member of the Lopez clan, Bettina.
Instead, the senator said he was acting merely on the marching orders of some senators who have asked his committee to probe the complex deals in question.
Speaking to the Inquirer’s editors and reporters, Osmeña detailed how he intended to nail Ongpin and former Development Bank of the Philippines president Rey David for—as Biz Buzz earlier predicted—insider trading (instead of the weaker “behest loan” angle).
It’s a spectacle worth holding your breath for because it will bring into the picture another business tycoon who was involved in the deal (whose identity we will keep a secret for now).
Of course, some of the deals Senator Osmeña has mentioned during the hearings—notably the acquisition of shares in Meralco and Philex—involved a known “mortal enemy” of the Osmeña clan in Cebu: former GSIS president Winston Garcia.
How’s that for a thick plot?—Daxim L. Lucas
Lou fires back
The word war between the family of Bacolod-based businessman Washington Lou and Dutch banking giant ING seems to be heating up, with the former now fully engaged in a tit-for-tat answering game with the latter.
In particular, Lou took exception to ING’s claims that the investments were transacted in Singapore and the accounts were opened in the city state.
“The Lou family has never gone to Singapore to transact or even open the accounts there,” the businessman told Biz Buzz. “All the time, the family’s accounts were opened by and managed by Manila-based officers of ING Manila, namely Susana Fong, Maite Gallego, Angie So, Kim Chan, Maddie Chan, et al.”
The Lou family never met with so-called “briefcase bankers” who flew in from abroad, he said, stressing his assertion that the bank solicited investments from him and sold him “unregistered” securities “in violation of the Securities Regulation Code.”
He also countered that the regional trial court in Bacolod never tried the case on the merits and simply dismissed it on technicalities, nor did it order the case to be filed in Singapore, as ING representatives claimed. The court case is now pending on appeal in the Court of Appeals in Cebu.
The investments in question total about $5 million, including funds of Lou’s retired parents who were “totally unsuitable for the type of investments that ING Bank invested their funds in by reason of age, lack of sophistication in investment and finance, and risk aversion due to retirement objectives,” he claimed.—Daxim L. Lucas
Another Tan daughter in PAL
More members of the family of tycoon Lucio Tan are getting involved in the management of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL).
Tan’s daughter Anabelle Tan-Go was recently appointed vice president/executive assistant to the chairman and CEO (that is, her own father).
In a memo to the airline’s employees late last month, PAL president Jaime Bautista said Tan-Go would be in charge of PAL’s corporate audit, product research and development, and human resources department. The three functions were taken from Bautista himself. The younger Tan will also report directly to PAL deputy CEO, Henry So Uy.
Given PAL’s current labor woes, it’s safe to say that Tan-Go will have a lot on her plate, of course.
Tan-Go’s appointment comes after her sister Vivienne assumed the position of executive vice president, heading the airline’s commercial group.—Paolo Montecillo
Still No. 1
The local unit of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets recently retained its No. 1 ranking for stock market research, sales and execution in the Philippines Asiamoney’s annual brokers poll, which is a survey of more than 4,000 institutional investors from approximately 2,300 institutions.
CLSA Philippines earned several distinctions in Asiamoney’s poll, ranking No. 1 Most Independent Research Brokerage, No. 1 Best Overall Country Research and No. 1 Best Research Coverage Overall in seven of the eight sectors polled, namely banks, capital goods, real estate, small cap stocks, strategy, telecommunications services and utilities. CLSA’s senior analyst Leo Venezuela also ranked No. 3 Best Analyst in the Philippines.
On the sales side, investors voted CLSA Philippines No. 1 Best Overall Sales Services, No. 1 Best in Sales Trading, No. 1 Best Overall Execution, as well as No. 1 Most Improved Brokerage over the last 12 months. CLSA’s head of sales Alex Dauz moved to No. 1 Best Salesperson from third place last year, and country head Mitzi de Dios gained No. 3 Best Salesperson for the country.
CLSA was also named the top financial house in the country when it came to organizing international events and conferences, as well as the top brokerage house for undertaking road shows and company visits for its clients.
Good job, guys.—Daxim L. Lucas
Whatever happened to…Elizabeth Lee?
Only a few months ago, the former president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. was touted as the next chief of the Bureau of Customs—supposedly handpicked by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima himself as the successor of Lito Alvarez.
(She had even resigned her posts in Campi and the family-owned Universal Motors Corp. in what was seen as a preparatory move for her appointment.)
Things didn’t exactly go as planned (with President Aquino naming Ruffy Biazon to the customs bureau, instead. This left many people wondering: “Where to now, Beth Lee?”
Well, Biz Buzz caught up with Ms. Lee at a recent event of the Management Association of the Philippines, where she sits as a director, and she hinted that she has “something in the works” (but would say no more).
In the meantime, a visibly more relaxed, more refreshed and more vivacious Ms. Lee said she is now dabbling in media, through her regular business-oriented TV program on the government-owned NBN 4.
“It feels good to relax,” she said. Knowing her, however, this is just “temporary downtime.”—Daxim L. Lucas
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