BDO, Japan’s Aozora Bank ink banking partnership

MANILA, Philippines – BDO Unibank Inc. (BD0) has entered into a partnership with Aozora Bank Ltd., a Japanese commercial bank, for banking services that would benefit clients eyeing the Philippines as a potential investment spot.

The business collaboration will cover, among others, merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory and investment banking services.

Aozora Bank president and chief executive officer Shinsuke Baba and BDO president and chief executive officer Nestor V. Tan signed the agreement for their respective institutions.

Aozora Bank handpicked BDO given the bank’s strong foothold in the Philippine market. This strength would be helpful to Aozora’s clients who plan to invest and find potential business partners in the Philippines.

For BDO’s part, senior vice president and head of international desks Edward G. Wenceslao, said the tie-up with Aozora can give the bank broad coverage in the major prefectures with the most number of Japanese investments in the Philippines. These prefectures are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka.

According to Aozora Bank, the alliance with BDO is the fifth business tie-up with a leading Asian bank. Aozoka has alliances with Singapore’s OCBC, Indonesia’s PT Bank Central Asia TBK, Thailand’s Kasikombank Public Co. Ltd., and Taiwan’s CTBC Financial Holdings Co. Ltd.