Marcos names top banker to BSP Monetary Board

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed veteran banker Walter Wassmer as a member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Thursday that Marcos picked Wassmer for his vast experience in different private institutions.

“President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. appointed top banker Walter Wassmer on Wednesday to join the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board,” the PCO said.

“Before joining the public sector, Wassmer served as a Consultant and Non-Executive Director of BDO Unibank, Inc. from 2022 to the present. He was also the Senior EVP and Institutional Banking Group Head at the same bank from 1997 to 2022,” it added.

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According to the BSP, the Monetary Board is responsible for the “conduct of monetary policy and supervision of the financial system.”

The BSP governor is the chair of the monetary board, while the board is composed of five full-time members from the private sector and one member from the Cabinet.

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Aside from working with BDO Unibank, the PCO said Wassmer also served as:

• Senior Vice President at Far East Bank and Trust Co. from 1986 to 1997
• Assistant Vice President at Union Bank of the Philippines from 1983 to 1986
• Corporate Account Officer at Bancom Finance Corporation from 1980 to 1982
• Corporate Account Officer at IFC Leasing and Acceptance Corp. from 1979 to 1980

Last May, the BSP said the Monetary Board can still perform most of its functions even with the exit of two of its members.

In a statement, the BSP said the seven-member Monetary Board, the highest policymaking body of the central bank, can decide on all major actions as long as there is concurrence of at least four members.