Veterans Bank seeks P500-M assistance from PDIC

The Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) expects to receive a P500- million assistance package from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) for its acquisition of a thrift bank in the first quarter of last year, a top bank official said.

"They (PDIC) are not supposed to lend us money but give us assistance," PVB president Ricardo A. Balbido Jr. told The STAR in a telephone interview.

Balbido said his bank has been managing thrift bank Bankwise since last year. "We will be assuming their deposit liability," he explained.

According to Balbido PDIC is still validating their request. "They don’t want to just get into it," he noted.

However, in a separate interview, PDIC acting president Michael R. Osmeña said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will eventually be the one to evaluate and decide on the request of PVB.

"Now it all depends on the Monetary Board… Normally, all of these financial assistance are reviewed both by the PDIC and the BSP but it has to be approved by the Monetary Board," Osmeña explained.

PVB has sought financial assistance after it served as a white knight to ailing Bankwise. Reports stated that PVB would be needing central bank intervention in order to prevent a "systemic crisis" as the bank made moves to absorb

the thrift bank. When asked about PVB’s financial position, Osmeña said the bank is doing "okay". "Normally the request is over a long period of time," he noted.

Bankwise has had financial problems and sought special permission from the BSP not to publish a statement of condition.

Balbido said they are interested in Bankwise because of its P1.5-billion private deposit. "It is a good source of funds," he said. Currently 70 percent of PVB’s deposits are comprised of government deposits.

Balbido said the acquisition of Bankwise will also improve the government-private deposits ratio to 60-40.

Aside from the deposit base, Balbido said PVB is also interested in Bankwise’s six branches: four in Metro Manila, one in Cebu and one in Davao.