Crisis-hit PSE elects new board today

With the nagging BW Resources controversy hounding the Philippine Stock Exchange, member-brokers prepare today for a major top-level facelift aimed at improving the bourse's tainted image.

The 11-man team led by veteran stockbroker Felipe U. Yap will vie for the 12 available seats in the PSE board of governors, along with nine independent candidates in a crucial exercise that will practically lead to an overhaul of the present management.

The board is composed of 12 broker-nominees elected annually by the 165 active broker-members at the PSE. The elected governors then appoint three non-members into the board for a fixed three-year term, one of them eventually winds up as the Exchange's president and CEO. A broker-governor can be re-elected only once, which means they can only serve two consecutive terms.

In contrast with the heated BW issue, there are no fireworks expected in today's elections as Yap would likely go unchallenged for the board chairmanship, banking on his stature as a respected businessman and industry leader as well as his reform is stance in bringing back investor confidence to the badly-battered capital market.

Aside from heading his own F. Yap Securities Inc., Yap is a prime mover in the mining field as chairman of Lepanto Consolidated and Manila Mining, both publicly listed. He is also chief executive officer of Guoco Holdings and holds director positions in Manila Peninsula, South China Petroluem, Philippine Fire and Marine Insurance, Zeus Holdings and Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.

Included in Yap's ticket are Ang Biao (Francis Chua) of BA Securities; Filomeno Francisco of Anscor Hagedorn Securities; David Go of David Go Securities Corp.; Edgardo Guevarra of Intra-Invest Securities; Gregorio Kilayko of ABN-Amro Asia Securities; Edwin Luyof Triton Securities; Joseph Madrid of Merrill Lynch Securities; Matthew Sutherland of Paribas Asia Equity; Francisco Villaroman of Securities Specialists; and Vivian Yuchengco of First Resources Management & Securities Corp.

The independent candidates, on the other hand, include Nestor Aguila (Market Capital & Securities); Don Calderon (All AsiaSecuities Management Corp.); Augusto Cosio (PNB Securities); Ramon C. Garcia Jr. (Diversified Securities); Ramon T. Garcia (RTG & Co. Inc.); Edward Go (Investors Securities Inc.); Rogildo Lara (Unicapital Securities Inc.); Myron Papa (Papa Securities Corp.); and Katrina Ponce-Enrile (Jaka Securities Corp.)

Another independent, Remy Tigulo of SB Equities Inc., backed out for unknown reasons while former PSE chairman Wilson Sy, whose Wealth Securities was dragged into the BW conflict, was reportedly seeking another term but also pulled out at the last minute before the official list came out.

A closer look at the list of nominees and the respective firms they represents how something in common -- none of the stock brokerage companies, nor the personalities are messed up in the BW Brouhaha, except only for PNB Securities which is one of three additional firms being investigated for possible trading rules violations in the BW case.

Incidentally, PNB nominee Augusto Cosio Jr. is seeking another one-year term, along with other current board members Edwin Luy of Triton Securities and Francisco Villaroman of Securities Specialists.

On the other hand, the three outsiders in the board of governors include PSE president and CEO Jose Luis Yulo, former finance minister and Asian Development Bank executive director Vicente Jayme and former Congressmen Margarito Teves.

Jayme and Teves will continue to serve out the remaining two years of their terms while Yulo's term will be expiring on April 30 this year.