MB fines PNB official

The Monetary Board (MB) has fined lawyer Roderick Salazar III, Philippine National Bank corporate secretary, P10,000 a day for his failure to report the details of the acquisition of PNB shares by beer and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan.

Deputy Gov. Alberto Reyes of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) told the House committee on banks yesterday that the MB also reprimanded Salazar "with a warning that stiffer sanctions will be imposed on him for his continued failure to submit the information."

Reyes, who is in charge of bank supervision and examination, said his office has been having difficulty in getting the details of Tan's acquisition of PNB shares.

Salazar, who attended yesterday's committee hearing, said he was not aware of the sanctions imposed on him by the Monetary Board.

Reyes said the PNB official would be notified this week or next week since the decision was reached only last week.

Salazar also informed the committee that he submitted to the BSP last Monday the information it needed on Tan's PNB shares.

He said the beer and tobacco tycoon has direct ownership of 10 shares and indirectly owns 46 percent of the bank by proxy.

Responding to questions from opposition Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental), the PNB official could not say what really is the extent of Tan's ownership of the bank.

He said he was only relying on the submission of a representative of Tan that he has 10 shares and proxies representing 46 percent of PNB shares.