De Ocampo is new chairman of Veterans Bank

Former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo has been named as the new chairman of Philippine Veterans Bank, a private commercial bank owned by some 400,000 World War II veterans and their heirs.

With De Ocampo as the new chairman, he said his term marked “a fresh new beginning for PVB, with the aim of revitalizing the medium-sized commercial bank to be an active major player in the banking industry, not just locally but globally as well.”

De Ocampo is a well-respected business leader who brings with him an exceptional track record here and abroad. He is also a son of a Filipino World War II veteran and his election was hailed by the Veterans Federation of the Philippines.

Aside from being the top fiscal manager during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos, De Ocampo was also president of the Asian Institute of Management and was the youngest chair and chief executive officer of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines.

During his stint as finance secretary, De Ocampo was credited for turning around the Philippine government’s fiscal position from large deficits to surpluses. His term saw the longest period of consecutive years of fiscal surpluses in the Philippines.

It was during his term that the key features of country’s investment liberalization and privatization strategies were designed and implemented. As finance secretary, he was awarded the Global Finance Minister of the Year in 1995 by Euromoney and Asian Finance Minister of the Year in 1996 and 1997 by Euromoney and Asiamoney, respectively.

De Ocampo is also a veteran in multilateral initiatives, having chaired the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (Apec) and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Finance Ministers. He was also previously a Governor of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank.

At present, De Ocampo chairs the board advisers of the RFO Center for Public Finance & Regional Economic Cooperation, an ADB Regional Knowledge Hub.

De Ocampo also has the distinction of being the only Filipino knighted by both the United Kingdom & France. He was conferred “Most Excellent Order of the British Empire” or OBE by the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for his efforts in promoting Philippine-UK relations during his years as a public servant and as chair of the British Alumni Association. He was also named Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor by the Republic of France for his promotion of links between France and the Philippines in the economic domain.