Banque Nationale de Paris has joined Keppel Tatlee Bank Ltd. of Singapore, Banco de Oro, and International Exchange Bank (iBank) which have shown interest in acquiring Urban Bank Corp. which was closed last week, according to Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) vice president Ricardo Tan.
"In addition to Banco De Oro, one or two non-Philippine banks have expressed interest in Urban Bank. One is a regional player, Keppel Tatlee Bank, and a leading bank from Europe, Banque Nationale de Paris. But there are no formal negotiations yet," he said in a telephone interview with The STAR.
Urban Bank and its thrift bank subsidiary, Urban Development Bank, were placed under PDIC receivership on April 26. This means that PDIC has taken over management of the bank. It will evaluate the bank's financial condition and determine if it can still be reopened through a new set of owners or closed permanently.
The PDIC started paying the insured deposits of the bank yesterday. But while the insured deposit is up to P100,000, PDIC paid only a maximum of P25,000. Tan said the rest of the amount will be paid within the month. Out of its P8-billion deposits, he said only about P550 million was insured with the PDIC.
Those whose deposits exceeded the maximum insured amount, will be able to get their money back once the PDIC has found a "white knight."
Another local commercial bank, iBank, had earlier expressed interested in Urban Bank but suffered heavy withdrawals last week and was forced to secure assistance from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to pay its panicking depositors.
Despite its difficulties, an iBank official said it was still interested in Urban Bank and two other savings bank including Prime Savings Bank.
Tan said the prospective buyers are interested in the 24 branches of Urban Bank.
Banque Nationale de Paris, which has been operating in the country as an offshore banking until since 1977, is one of the largest banks in Europe. It was earlier interested in acquiring a commercial bank license when the industry was liberalized but was not among the 10 foreign banks awarded a license by the BSP.
The PDIC has 90 days to determine if Urban Bank can still be rehabilitated through a new set of investors or permanently closed and its assets liquidated. --