Thrift bank Manila Banking Corp. (ManilaBank) of the Puyat family has acquired 60 percent of Malaysian-owned TA Bank, solidifying ManilaBank's bid to become a commercial bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Rafael B. Buenaventura announced yesterday.
However, ManilaBank's acquisition of the majority of the Malaysian bank would still have to be approved by the Monetary Board, BSP's policy-making body.
TA's shareholders include the Malaysian-based TA Enterprises Berhad.
In another development, Buenaventura clarified that the BSP had already released a total of 23 emergency loans to troubled Rural Bank of San Miguel contrary to its management's claims that RBSM's cash strapped situation merely started as a Y2K problem which was aggravated by BSP's alleged failure to come to its financial rescue.
RBSM, Bulacan's biggest bank, declared a bank holiday and temporarily closed on Jan. 5, 2000.