Morgan Stanley to raise $2-B for RP

Leading New York investment banker Morgan Stanley got the go signal from the Department of Finance to raise some $2 billion using the dollar balances or floats of local Philippine banks as security. Also called "nostro accounts," the dollar accounts of local Philippine banks with their New York correspondent banks come mostly from remittances, export earnings and foreign currency deposit units or FCDU deposits. According to Spybiz sources, the financial product and technology of using these US dollar accounts as security for government borrowings was the brainchild of Hong Kong-based Smetrix Financial Ltd., whose principals are Filipinos led by investment banker and Asian Spirit chairman Noel Oñate, Renan Paglin and Liel Pascual. The said financial technology is expected to generate the government some 100 to 150 basic points in interest payments. Local banks BPI, Equitable-PCI Bank, Land Bank, Banco de Oro, RCBC and Metrobank have reportedly expressed strong interest in the deal, because of the possibility to get additional earnings from local banks‚ otherwise idle dollar float, estimated to be around $15 billion.

Look who’s talking

An anonymous member of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) wrote Spybiz wondering why former DTI Secretary Rizalino Navarro will be delivering a lecture on "Directors‚ Duties and Responsibilities" for the MAP workshop on corporate governance. His beef stems from the fact that Navarro was a director of the beleaguered Pacific Plans Inc. (PPI), which is now facing numerous lawsuits from its planholders for fraud and bad faith. He pointed out that this shows the lack of delicadeza. It is just like rubbing salt on the raw wounds of the planholders. Incidentally, a group of planholders had asked the help of Atty. Maricel Pascual-Lopez, the modern day Joan of Arc who exposed Universal Leisure Corp.’s "syndicated estafa" and got an order to return P2 billion to investors. Atty. Lopez is set to file an opposition to PPI’s rehabilitation plan based on the contention that the planholders are trustors, not creditors and, therefore, are not covered by the proposed rehabilitation plan. "PPI created Lifetime Plans from the seed capital of Pacific Plans. It was from the retained earnings of the traditional, open-ended plans through which these new businesses were created, so essentially the money belongs to the planholders. PPI cannot stop payment of money which is not theirs in the first place, but by the planholders and beneficiaries," Atty. Lopez explained.

Alabang Country Club replies

Alabang Country Club Inc.’s (ACCI) general manager Lawrence Jalbuena wrote to refute the claims of suspended member Ramon Gonzalez (Alabang Brawl Continues, June 9 Spybiz column). According to Jalbuena, Gonzalez was expelled for presenting fake proxies when the latter ran for director in 2004 and that ACCI never reinstated his membership, contrary to claims made by Gonzalez. Regarding the legal fees being spent by ACCI, the GM said they are commensurate with the work being done by the lawyers, adding in effect that Gonzalez is to blame for the expenses by filing the case against ACCI. Jalbuena added that the project cost for renovating and upgrading the Clubhouse is not bloated. Rather, it underwent normal and regular procedures. Gonzalez’s penchant for criticism is reportedly well known in the club. The Board of Directors have reputedly always given due recognition to such but have found some of them baseless, concluded Jalbuena.

DTI adds to text fraud warning

The Department of Trade and Industry added to the warning about text scams in our May 31 column. According to the DTI, telcos and their content providers use special codes and characters in broadcasting legitimate promos to their subscribers. So if you get notices about marketing ads, raffle prizes and other sales promos sent through an ordinary, 11-digit cellular number (ex. 0926-1234567), it’s probably a hoax and should be ignored. Such text scams may be reported to the NTC or the concerned telco so the sim card of the text scammer may be blocked if it is proven that the number is being used for illegal purposes, like ripping-off thousands of pesos from those who fall prey to the lure of non-existent prizes.

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