BIZ BUZZ: New GlobalSource heavy hitter

Now that economist Romeo Bernardo has been appointed to the Monetary Board, he has turned over his position as economist at New York-based think tank Global Source to a well-esteemed former central bank senior official.

We’re talking about Diwa Guinigundo, former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor, a career monetary official who would have been (and maybe someday still could be) a great central bank governor.

Guinigundo holds a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and like Bernardo, is an alumnus of the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

During his term as BSP deputy governor (2005 to 2019), he was responsible for monetary policy and operations, international operations and other various aspects of central banking and macroeconomic policy. He had also served in various capacities at international organizations, including alternate executive director at the International Monetary Fund (2001 to 2003) and research head at The South East Asian Central Banks’ Research and Training Centre (1992 to 1994). He is also a fellow of the Foundation for Economic Freedom.

Guinigundo has published several books, including Trauma to Triumph: Rising from the Ashes of the Asian Financial Crisis, which he co-edited with AMRO.

For years, Bernardo published via GlobalSource independent and intelligent insights about the Philippine economy and politics—some of which landed on page one of local dailies. Guinigundo isn’t expected to deliver any less.

— Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

DoubleDragon welcomes Nasdaq chief

Last Monday, the proverbial red carpet was rolled out at the head office of Hotel101 at DoubleDragon Plaza.

That’s because young billionaire Edgar “Injap” Sia II welcomed no less than Nasdaq president Nelson Griggs and Nasdaq senior vice president Matthew Rafter to their office.

The Hotel101 officers and staff were rightfully excited to welcome Nasdaq’s top brass as DoubleDragon subsidiary Hotel101 Global Pte Ltd. is working hard to be the first Philippine-based company to list on Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq stock exchange based in New York is one of the most active stock exchanges in the world by volume.

Sia is going full speed ahead with plans to grow Hotel101 into a “top 5 global hotel group” with about 500,000 rooms by 2040.

— Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Hot bonds, cold stocks

The stock market might seem lifeless these days but that isn’t the case when we’re talking about the debt sector—corporate bonds, in particular.

The ongoing bond sale of Bank of the Philippine Islands, which sought to raise P5 billion with an option to upsize, was met with “overwhelming demand”, promoting the banking giant to close the offer period nine days early on Oct. 25.

The bonds, which require a minimum investment of P1 million, went on sale last week but were immediately snapped by a host of institutional, high-net-worth, and retail clients.

The 1.5-year notes, which will pay 6.425 percent per year, will be used by BPI to strengthen its balance sheet and diversify funding sources.

It definitely helps that BPI is one of the country’s top lenders. Its most recent financial figures also showed it was poised to beat last year’s record earnings.

— Miguel R. Camus