Banking

THE Philippines has had eight years of financial-sector reforms that benefited mostly the large commercial banks, but not enough of them for the smaller thrift and rural banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report published this month.

The Philippine banking system remains fragmented, with no single bank considered too big too fail as those in the United States, a Bangko Sentral official said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said there is room for further consolidation among local banks in order to strengthen the capital base, asset quality, and client base of major players in the local banking industry.

DESPITE low interest rates, Philippine banks have remained liquid yet cautious in extending loans to consumers and businesses since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, resulting in a gradual slowdown of credit growth the following year.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has pushed back the implementation of two international standards aimed at strengthening the risk management of commercial and universal lenders.

THE capital of the country’s banks improved nine months after the Lehman Brothers collapse, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

MANILA, Philippines – The policy making body of the Bangko Sentral ang Pilipinas (BSP) is dangling an incentive for rural banks to merge and consolidate.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the local banking system remained resilient after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) managed to put in place reforms aimed at containing the effects of the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is giving rural banks at least one year reprieve to comply with stricter regulations in meeting capitalization requirements.

Access to credit among small businesses are largely associated with the level of development of rural banks in their area since most of the country’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs), mostly located in the provinces, rely on the services of banks nearest to them.

MANILA, Philippines – Quasi-banks and their trust departments may now engage in derivatives activities without the need for prior approval by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), according to the latest amendments approved by the policy-making Monetary Board (MB).

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) needs to adapt various international best practices in banking supervision to better protect the interest of depositors, a senior legislator said over the weekend.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global financial crisis could impair economic growth for at least seven years, and suggested structural reforms could help limit the damage.

The rural banking sector remains the single biggest contributor to employment growth for the entire local banking system in the country.

A YEAR AFTER LEHMAN COLLAPSE The banking system today-a year after Lehman-remains stable. It has grown further in asset size and deposit base. It remains generally profitable as banks continue to lend, while delinquencies have stayed within manageable levels.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with the Philippine Desposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) will come up with a rescue package for troubled banks across the country through mergers instead of direct government infusions.

Agencies to speed up, simplify M & A process THE BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPinas has signed a memorandum of agreement with Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to speed the process of approving mergers and acquisitions among the banking industry.

Financial regulators adopted yesterday measures to speed up consolidation processes in the banking sector in a bid to further strengthen the financial system.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine banking system is facing potential drags on its bottomline as the operating environment remains difficult, squeezing banks’ interest rate margins, loan growth decelerating, and the cost of lending rising.

MANILA, Philippines – Consumer spending ground to a near-halt in the first quarter of this year but data from the central bank showed that during this time, bank deposits surged 14.8 percent to P3.1 trillion.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite monetary easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), bank lending is slowing down because few companies actually have the appetite for bank loans and demand would not recover until the economy bounces back.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the economic slowdown is taking its toll on bank lending, citing its deceleration in recent months.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s banking industry is forecasting lending activities to slow down this year as borrowers cut back on loans.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine banking system does not need to be subjected to a “stress test” similar to what banking regulators are implementing in the US.

AMID a slowing economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to undertake a “stress test” of local banks, similar to what its US counterpart, the Fed, did for American lenders that saw their capital erode due to the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine banks reported a 34.1-percent decline in net income in 2008 as the industry suffered huge losses in non-interest income.

But local financial system still healthy, says BSP   LOCAL banks took a bath last year, but emerged otherwise unscathed from the worst crisis to hit global lenders, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).In its report on the Philippine Financial System for the second semester of 2008, the BSP said the country’s financial…

Deposit claims from the group of 15 banks, including the so-called Legacy Group are estimated to reach P14 billion and deposit insurance authorities said they were hiring an external auditing firm to speed up the settlement of the claims.

As global markets reel from the impact of the financial crisis that has claimed among its victims corporate giants from the US to Europe, Philippine banks have, thus far, emerged largely unscathed, the country’s top central banker points out.