Urban Bank talks to new investors

Urban Bank has started negotiations with several new investors following the failed takeover of the Bank of Commerce, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Lilia Bautista said yesterday.

In a press briefing, Bautista said Urban Bank and its investment arm Urbancorp Investments Inc. (UII) will seek an extension of the March 8 deadline earlier set by the SEC for a debt payment moratorium.

Although Bautista did not identify the new investors the Urban group has reportedly started negotiations with, she said the group will ask for the additional grace period to prepare for a new rehabilitation plan to replace the Bank of Commerce program.

The debt relief extension will be the fifth the SEC will grant the Urban group since its collapse in April last year.

The Urban Bank group declared a bank holiday last year and sought refuge at the SEC and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. as it could no longer cover its deposit liabilities of more than P8 billion following the spate of massive withdrawals by depositors.

The bank’s collapse was attributed to the anomalous and highly abnormal sale by UII to Urban Bank of P4.6 billion worth of debt papers of companies with doubtful capacities to pay, hence depleting the bank’s cash and assets. – Conrado Diaz Jr.