MANILA — Operations of the Overseas Filipino Bank, targeted for working Filipinos overseas, will likely start in February 2018 after the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB) approved Land Bank of the Philippines’ (Landbank) acquisition of the thrift bank about two weeks ago.
“I think they are targeting February (2018) taking into account the (assessment of the) Philippine Competition Commission (PCC),” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. told reporters in a briefing Friday.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed on Sept. 28, 2017 Executive Order (EO) 44, directing the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to transfer their Postal Bank shares to Landbank at zero value.
Under the EO, Landbank was ordered to ensure the capitalization of Overseas Filipino Bank, which will be headed by Landbank’s chairperson.
PostalBank officials who will be affected by this transfer will be offered an early retirement incentive plan.
BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier told reporters that although the MB has approved Landbank’s acquisition of PostalBank, the parties have yet to secure the approval by the PCC.
A PCC approval is needed because the acquisition amounts to more than a billion pesos, she said.
Landbank sought the Board’s approval for the proposed Overseas Filipino Bank’s PHP1 billion authorized capital, PHP700 million of which will be classified into common shares while the balance of PHP300 million will be preferred shares.
Fonacier said the two parties have also submitted before the MB applications to set up a new bank on top of the application for acquisition.