Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has shuttered the Rural Bank of Luna (Isabela), bringing to 16 the number of financial institutions closed down by the regulator as part of efforts to weed out weak players in the industry. The closed rural bank was placed under the supervision of the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). Under the PDIC Charter, a bank that has been placed under liquidation shall in no case be re-opened and permitted to resume banking business. BSP officer-in-charge Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the country’s banking system has evolved over the years with the closure of some players as well as the mergers and consolidation of the others. “The system is evolving so what we are seeing is the weaker players have decided to get out of the system or combine with the others. We keep saying compared with 10 years ago the banking system today, those that remain will continue to service the market is more stronger than the banking system 10 years ago,” he said. Espenilla cited the weak banking system in Europe prompting the European Central Bank to release more liquidity in their financial system. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “In Europe there is something wrong with the banking system so what is happening to them they are unable to grow even though the central bank there keeps releasing liquidity it doesn’t go out because the transmission channel, the financial system is a problem,” he said. According Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Asia-Pacific based airlines flew more international passengers in August as more tourists traveled within the region, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported. According to the latest data from the IATA, international traffic carried by Asia-Pacific airlines, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), grew  5.6 percent. Their capacity also increased by 6.8 percent, while load factor slipped  0.9 percentage points to 81.9 percent. Asian passengers continued to exhibit wariness due to terrorism in Europe, so most of them instead are going to destinations closer to home, IATA said. “There are signs of Asian travelers continuing to be put-off by recent terrorism in Europe. Traffic on Europe-Asia routes grew just 1.5 percent in July, the most recent month for which route-specific figures are available, while international traffic growth on routes within Asia accelerated to 9.9 percent,” the IATA added. Meanwhile, global passenger traffic rose 4.6 percent but slower than the 6.4 percent increase recorded in July. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Capacity increased by 5.8 percent, while load factor slipped 0.9 percentage points to 83.8 percent. “Growth in passenger demand dipped to 4.6 percent. While that’s disappointing compared to the previous month’s performance, it is still healthy growth. And although terrorist attacks in Europe have dampened demand, the impact is ebbing,” IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. All regions exhibited growth in international traffic during the period, led by Middle Eastern carriers posting a 10.3 percent passenger growth.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to unveil a new set of regulations covering the over-the-counter derivatives market as part of the country’s continuing foreign exchange liberalization program BSP officer-in-charge Nestor Espenilla Jr. said authorities are improving the existing regulation to take into consideration recent developments including the volatile global markets. “We have an existing one we are improving it so we will be unveiling that soon enough and that would also incorporate some of the reforms of the OTC derivatives market particularly currency,” he said. Derivatives are financial instruments that primarily derive its value from the performance of an underlying variable such as interest rates, foreign exchange rates, or financial instrument prices. Market participants enter into a derivatives transaction for several economic purposes such as hedging, managing capital or funding costs, and yield enhancement, among others. Espenilla said there is a need to protect the interest of investors amid the volatile global markets caused by the impending interest rate hike in the US, as well as developments in the country. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Equal for business and individuals to manage their risks to derivative products have a role to play for risk management so that is why we are currently working with our derivatives framework,” he said. Espenilla said the BSP is looking at deploying the revised guidelines within the year. “We want to deploy it this year. Although there are processes, the regulations are almost done so Read More …

After buying majority stake in Philweb MANILA, Philippines – Businessman Gregorio Ma. Araneta III is seeking exemption from the mandatory tender offer requirement in relation to his acquisition of businessman Roberto Ongpin’s stake in PhilWeb Corp. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), PhilWeb said the parties involved in the transaction are now seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the exemption. A source from the SEC’s Market Regulations Department, however, said the transaction was covered by the mandatory tender offer requirement under the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).  The SRC requires mandatory tender offers when a person or group of persons intends to acquire 35 percent of the outstanding voting shares of a public company in one or more transactions within a period of 12 months. Ongpin sold his 53.76 percent stake in PhilWeb, equivalent to 771.65 million shares, at P2.60 per share or a total of P2 billion. According to the sale and purchase agreement, the sale will be in two tranches. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  The first tranche of 653.15 million shares will completed through a special block sale and for approval by the PSE, while the second tranche will consist of 118.5 million shares that need to be registered for listing at the PSE. The second tranche is scheduled as soon as the registration of these shares at the PSE is completed and will be transacted at the same price as the special block sale for the Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – State rice importer National Food Authority (NFA) is allotting P2.3 billion for palay-buying nationwide as the harvest season begins. The P2.3-billion is under the Cereal Procurement Fund (CPF) that will be used to finance extensive palay-buying operations across the country. The NFA targets to buy 2.6 million bags of palay from local farmers nationwide until yearend. It buys palay at P17 per kilogram and the standard 50-kilogram bag costs P850. NFA also clarified that the P2.3 billion is just an initial allocation and it could shell out additional budget should there be more farmers who would want to sell their palay produce. “We are ready to set up more funds should there be a need to buy more palay,” NFA officer-in-charge Tomas Escarez said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We shall be focusing our procurement operations on the 35 provinces across the country with surplus production identified by the Philippine Statistics Authority,” he added. These provinces include Abra, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, La Union, Kalinga, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Quirino, Aurora, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, and Palawan. The NFA will also buy from farmers in Camarines Sur, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur.