Manila Bank to be niche player

The Manila Banking Corp., the country's third biggest thrift bank, expects to become a commercial bank in the next two to three months following the completion of its merger with TA Bank, Manila Bank senior vice president and corporate secretary David Puyat said yesterday.

As a commercial bank, Manila Bank will be a niche player, Puyat said in an interview with The STAR.

Manila Bank acquired 60 percent of the formerly Malaysian-controlled TA Bank in October last year. The policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Board, approved the merger between the two banks last January. TA Bank failed to meet the higher capital requirement, forcing its owners to divest.

"Our license will be automatically upgraded into a commercial bank once the merger with TA Bank is completed in the next two to three months," Puyat, whose family owns 30 percent of Manila Bank, said. "That's the way it seems to be heading now after the BSP issued a moratorium on the granting of commercial bank licenses." As a commercial bank, Manila Bank can engage in foreign exchange transactions such as issuing letters of credit and investing in allied undertakings, things which it is allowed to do as a thrift bank. However, Manila Bank is bound to lose some of the perks enjoyed by thrift banks such as lower capital requirement and exemption from the gross receipts tax.

Puyat said with a capital of P4.4 billion, Manila Bank already meets the required capital for commercial banks.

Aside from TA Bank, he said Manila Bank is also in the process of integrating Omni Savings Bank which it acquired in August last year. He said the bank is also on the lookout for other smaller banks to acquire or for possible merger with other commercial banks.

Manila Bank has been operating for less than a year. It reopened in June last year after 12 years of closure. Of the 72 branches allowed by the BSP, he said the bank has opened only 11 so far since it is having difficulty looking for the best sites. It intends to open five more branches within the year, probably outside Luzon such as in Cagayan de Oro. --