PNB appoints Florido Casuela as OIC

MANILA, Philippines — Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank (PNB) has tapped director Florido Casuela as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the publicly listed bank.

Casuela replaces PNB president and CEO Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso who was appointed president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) by President Marcos.

Casuela, 80, is current chairman of PNB Securities and Casuela Equity Ventures. Aside from PNB, he is also a director of PNB International Investments Corp., PNB RCI Holdings Co. Ltd, and Surigao Micro Credit Corp.

The former senior vice president of PNB is currently a senior consultant of the Bank of Makati and a former vice chairman of Allied Integrated Holdings Inc. (formerly PNB Savings Bank) and former director of PNB Life Insurance.

Prior to joining the Tan-led bank, the seasoned banker served as president of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines and Maybank Philippines. He was also a former vice chairman of Landbank and Maybank Philippines, as well as former trustee of Landbank Countryside Development Foundation.

Casuela also served as director of Manila Electric Co (Meralco), special assistant to the chairman of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), director of Saguittarius Mines, senior executive vice president of United Overseas Bank (formerly Westmont Bank, executive vice president of Producers Bank, first vice president of Bank of Commerce, vice president of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.

The veteran banker also worked as a staff officer and later as senior adviser of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He has a bachelor of science in Business Administration major in Accounting degree and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

Casuela has attended an advanced management program for overseas bankers from the Philadelphia National Bank in conjunction with Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and attended a study tour on Micro Finance Program and Cooperatives under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Veloso replaced Rolando Macasaet as head of the country’s pension fund service for government employees.

“It’s an honor to be invited to join the government and serve under the administration of President Marcos . It’s a privilege for me to be of service to the GSIS, its stakeholders and the nation,” the banker said.

Veloso assumed the presidency of PNB on Nov. 16, 2018, replacing Reynaldo Maclang.

Veloso holds the distinction of being the first Filipino CEO for HSBC Philippines. He also served as Chairman of the Board of HSBC Savings Bank (Philippines), Inc. and HSBC Insurance Brokers Philippines. He was also a Director and Entity Manager of HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines), Inc.

Veloso’s extensive banking and capital markets experience spans over 30 years, 23 years of which were with HSBC. He joined HSBC in December 1994 as head of Interest Rate Trading in the Philippines.

In July 2000, he transferred to HSBC’s Asian headquarters in Hong Kong to take on dual roles: as head of Asian Local Currency Debt Trading, then concurrently as head of Credit Derivatives for Asia Pacific.

Veloso returned to the Philippines in June 2003 to take charge of the country’s Treasury and Global Markets business and was promoted in October 2010 to managing director and in August 2012 to head of Global Banking and Markets.