The Bank of Commerce (Bancommerce) is pursuing its bid to merge with Traders Royal Bank (TRB), a ranking Bancommerce official said yesterday.
"The agreement towards merger between Bancommerce and TRB is still alive, Bancommerce executive vice president Juan De Zuñiga Jr., in an interview with The STAR, said, pointing out that negotiations for the merger of Bancommerce of TRB are still ongoing.
"The top level officials of Bancommerce and TRB are still discussing terms of the merger with the officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)," Zuñiga said.
At present, he said their officials are still threshing out some issues surrounding the merger with TRB such as the verification and audit of the questionable shares of the Romualdez in TRB and the financial package that would be adopted once the sale pushes through.
TRB is facing financial difficulties because of its reputation as a crony-owned bank during the Marcos administration.
"They are currently looking at the ownership problems and the financial package," he said.
He said the officials have set no specific timetable for the negotiations. "They (officials) agreed to extend it (timetable) from time to time."
According to Zuñiga, they have not opened their doors for talks with other banks. "We are maintaining our interest (in TRB)," he added.
The merger with TRB will increase the network of Bancommerce to almost 100 branches nationwide.