Philippine Stock Exchange elects new directors

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the operator of the local bourse, has elected new directors during its annual stockholders’ meeting on Saturday.

New additions to the board of directors are Roberto Lim, a former undersecretary of the Department of Transportation, who was elected as independent director, and businessman Edgardo Lacson who was endorsed by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Lim and Lacson replaced Dakila Fonacier and Hans Sicat as directors, respectively.

Former finance secretary Jose Pardo has been reelected as chairman and independent director and Ramon Monzon as president and CEO.

The rest of the board directors are Jesus Clint Aranas, Emmanuel Bautista, Anabelle Chua, Francis Chua, Eddie Gobing, Amor Iliscupidez, Vicente Panlilio, Wilson Sy, Eusebio Tanco, Alejandro Yu and Ma. Vivian Yuchengco.

Lim and Panlilio were elected as independent directors.

Other key officers are Roel Refran, chief operating officer; Aissa Encarnacio, corporate secretary; and Omelita Tiangco, treasurer.

The PSE’s board of directors is comprised of a president-director; broker directors of at least one but not exceeding seven seats; and non broker-directors of at least seven seats consisting of at least three independent directors. Other directors should represent interests of issuers, investors and other market participants, with at least one representation from each sector.

The board of directors has a term of one year and until their successors are elected and qualified.

Under the leadership of Monzon, the PSE has been trying to push for a unified stock market and fixed income exchange, but like in the previous years it has been encountering regulatory challenges.

For now, the PSE still needs to comply with ownership limitation set by the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).

The PSE would need to issue more shares to meet the requirements. Meeting the limits is necessary for the PSE to gain ownership and control of the PDS Group, the operator of the country’s fixed income exchange.

The PSE has not been able to do that yet, but it is still hopeful that it can proceed with its grand plan which it first envisioned in 2013. Officials said it was unable to comply with the ownership limits because of some broker ownership data that was not previously captured.

The SRC, the corporate code in the country, imposed a 20 percent limit on ownership of an exchange by any industry or business. The SEC said that PSE’s total broker shareholdings as of Feb. 28, 2018 is equivalent to 21.71 percent or above the limit of 20 percent.

State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines offered earlier to buy the shares of the PSE in the PDS Group but at a lower price of P215 per share. Landbank’s offer expired in March and there has been no new development regarding the matter.