EastWest Bank eyes P5-B LTNCD

MANILA, Philippines - EastWest Banking Corp. (EastWest) plans to issue another P5 billion long-term negotiable certificates of time deposit (LTNCD) to continuously offer funding options for its clients, its top bank official said.

EastWest president Antonio Moncupa Jr. said they would seek regulatory approval to issue the LTNCD by August this year.

He said they expect to issue the certificates by November.

The bank, he said, is likely to complete the last tranche of the first batch of P5 billion LTNCD issued in November 2012.

He said they would sell the remaining P500 million of the P5 billion within the next two weeks.

“LTNCD is a product and a funding option we would like to offer to our clients on a continuous basis,” he said.

EastWest, owned by the Gotianuns who control Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), one of the largest property development firms in the country, issued the first tranche of the certificates in November last year totaling P1.5 billion.

The certificates of deposits would carry a coupon rate of five percent and interest payments would be done on a quarterly basis.

The LTNCDs, which will start paying principal on May 23, 2018, would come in five-year and six months tenor.

Unicapital and EastWest serve as lead arranger and selling agents for the offering.