Navarro retires from RCBC

The Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) will have a new chief executive officer starting Feb. 1 this year.

This as Sun Life Financial-Philippines (SLFP) president and chief executive officer Lorenzo V. Tan will assume the CEO post in lieu of the bank’s executive vice chairman and CEO Rizalino S. Navarro, who has retired, but will retain other responsibilities within the Yuchengco Group of companies.

Likewise, former Prime Minister Cesar EA Virata has given up his senior officer responsibilities in the bank but will continue to serve as its corporate vice chairman, director and senior advisor.

It was still unclear what will happen to RCBC president and chief operating officer Francisco S. Magsajo Jr., since sources said Tan "wants to bring in his own team."

SLFP, a Canada-based financial and insurance institution, is the second largest life insurer in the country operating several subsidiaries including those in the pre-need and mutual fund sectors.

Tan joined SLFP in July 2005 from the Philippine National Bank (PNB) where he was also chief executive. Prior to joining PNB, the youthful Tan came from the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).

He was also part of Citibank, and is widely known as the "Miracle Kid" for his ability to turn around troubled financial institutions such as UCPB and PNB.

Tan played a pivotal role in significantly growing Sun Life’s life and mutual funds business by over 70 percent and the pre-need business by over 100 percent within the first six months of his term. With SLFP, Tan introduced the "push and pull" strategy which obviously paid dividends. With UCPB and PNB, he was credited with introducing the "bad bank, good bank" strategy.