China Bank accelerates diversification efforts

SY FAMILY-LED China Bank plans to venture into the stock brokerage business and set up a special purpose vehicle for securitization as part of efforts to diversify its revenue stream and make the most out of its universal banking license.

The two new units—which will make China Bank a more active participant in the capital market—will be folded into the bank’s investment house, China Bank Capital Corp. (CBCC).

China Bank Capital plans to acquire and rebrand an existing stock brokerage. The stock brokerage will be named China Bank Securities Corp., the bank told the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“As a wholly owned subsidiary, it will enable China Bank Capital to do initial public offerings (IPOs) and list IPO shares in the PSE,” it said.

“China Bank clients stand to benefit from this as they will have access to the stock brokerage service for their equities-related transactions,” it added.

The special purpose corporation, to be known CBC Assets One (SPC), will hold the assets for securitization transactions of China Bank Capital.

Early this year, China Bank Capital was mandated by housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. to be the arranger and lead underwriter for the P5-billion securitization of contract to sell (CTS) receivables of its subsidiaries. When completed, this will be the largest securitization transaction in the country.

China Bank has become more active in the investment banking and capital markets space in the last three years. It has been recognized by the Philippine Dealing System as the top corporate issue manager in the bank category for 2015, besting three foreign banks.

The stock brokerage will have an initial capital of P100 million while the securitization arm will have initial capital of P5 million.

China Bank provides a full range of banking products and services to corporate, commercial, and retail customers through more than 500 branches nationwide.