EPCIB operations won’t be affected by boardroom conflict — BSP head

The two conflicting groups of the Equitable PCI Bank have assured the monetary authorities that the operation of the bank would not be affected by their unresolved differences, a ranking monetary official said over the weekend.

"The two groups has given us an assurance to allow the management of the bank to perform their day-to-day function," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. told reporters over the weekend.

Tetangco met with the squabbling stockholders of EPCIB last week to "ensure that the bank would operate normally. "

The BSP chief said they are currently drafting new guidelines for the imposition of stricter penalties for the violators of banking rules and regulations.

"We have not finished it yet. We have always been studying these penalties," Tetangco said.

The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the BSP, has reportedly discussed such penalties. But Tetangco declined to elaborate.

Last Friday, the stockholders of EPCIB issued a joint statement, saying that they "wish to assure our depositors, creditors, investors and the public in general, that we are fully supportive of the bank and its management and staff."

"The bank is operating as usual and is ready to address the banking requirements of its customers with the efficient service it has been know for," they said.

They said "the management continues to exercise its authority which it has been authorized in the past."

"While we may have contrasting views on some shareholder issues which we are currently in the process of resolving, we remain united in our trust in the professionalism and competence of the banks’ management team," they said.

The signatories of joint statement were: Corazon dela Paz, Social Security System president and chief executive officer; Antonio Go; Winston F. Garcia, Government Service Insurance System president and general manager; Ferdinand Martin, Trans-Middle East Corp.