Buenaventura is Equitable PCI president-CEO

Rene J. Buenaventura, a 20-year veteran of Equitable PCI Bank and a distant cousin of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Rafael Buenaventura, will be taking over as president and chief executive officer of the bank.

Buenaventura will officially assume the top bank post on March 16 as the board of directors of Equitable PCI Bank yesterday accepted the resignation of Deogracias Vistan.

A statement released by the board of directors read: "Equitable PCI Bank accepted with regrets the resignation of Mr. Deogracia N. Vistan as president and CEO of the Bank effective March 15. Mr. Vistan expressed the wish to step down following the Bank’s successful confidence recovery program under the joint leadership of Chairman Antonio Go and himself."

Vistan, however, will be retained as a special adviser of the bank.

The board of directors lauded Vistan’s management, but no statement was issued to clarify earlier reports that the majority shareholders of the bnak – the Go family, had disagreed with the recommendation of Vistan to hike the bank‘s capital.

"Mr. Vistan as president was a key contributor to the bank‘s success. His departure, however, will not sidetrack the bank‘s rebuilding and strengthening program."

At the same time, the bank assured its depositors that with the same leadership in place and a new president and CEO, "there will be no poblems of transition, the team is moving forward on its program for the year, which will spell benefits for customers, employees and shareholdres."

Buenaventura who takes over on March 16, has been with Equitable PCI Bank or more than 20 years and occupied over the past three years the post of senior executive vice president and head of the largest segment of the bank, its retail and branch banking group.

Buenaventura is concurrently president and chief executive officer of PCI Leasing and Finance Inc., a position he held since 1977. He was responsible for the growth and successful initial public offering of PCI Leasing and Finance Inc. which is country’s largest leasing and finance company in terms of capitalization, income and branch network.

A summa cum laude graduate of De La Salle University, Buenaventura also has a double degree in Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in accounting and bachelor of arts major in behavioral science. He is a certified public accountant and holds an MBA degree from De La Salle University.