Carlos Pedrosa named PNB president

MANILA, Philippines–Tycoon Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank named veteran banker Carlos Pedrosa as its new president and chief executive officer effective Aug. 1, replacing Eugene Acevedo who had quit his post after 13 months.

In a statement on Friday, PNB said Acevedo had tendered his resignation to focus on several promising business endeavors that will require his immediate and hands-on participation.

Pedrosa has over 30 years of banking experience that started in 1964 in a foreign bank in Barcelona, Spain, where he was a foreign exchange trader and eventually headed the private banking department. After a four-year stint overseas, he joined Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. where he rose from the ranks and headed various operations such as domestic and international operations, treasury, credit, domestic subsidiaries, overseas branches and merchant banking.

Pedrosa was afterwards named by Bank of Tokyo as its nominee to the board of directors of Pilipinas Bank and subsequently appointed as the local bank’s CEO from 1993 to 1997. He also became president of First e-Bank from 2000 to 2003 and later served as director of United Coconut Planters Bank (2004-2006) and Metrobank (2008-2009).

The banker had also served in different corporations in various capacities over the years: Toyota Motor Philippines (vice chair), Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. (chair); Global Power Corp. (executive director); QSpan Technologies (executive director) and Pilipino Telephone Corp. (director).

At present, Pedrosa chairs the settlement committee and is a member of the market governance board and market compliance committee of the country’s fixed income exchange Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEX).

PNB also announced the election of another veteran banker in its board.  Deogracias Vistan, who was Bankers Association of the Philippines president at the height of the Asian financial crisis (1997-1999), was named as independent director to fill the void in the board.

Vistan has had an extensive banking experience: chair of UCPB (2003-2004), vice chair of Metrobank, president of Equitable PCI Bank (2001-2002), president of Solidbank Corp. (1992-2000) and president of Land Bank of the Philippines (1986-1992).  He has likewise held various management positions in Citibank Manila, Cebu and New York from 1968 to 1986.