3 groups eye stake in GSIS Family Bank

At least three groups are eyeing to acquire a stake in GSIS Family Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), said GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia.

Garcia said the state pension fund is in talks with China’s largest commercial bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), French banking giant BNP Paribas and a group of local investors on the sale of roughly 60 percent of GSIS Family Bank.

Garcia said ICBC has already completed its due diligence on the bank in November last year and is expected to make a decision on the matter soon. He said that getting a strategic partner to run GSIS Family Bank, a thrift bank, would allow the company to operate as a commercial bank. GSIS acquired the bank in the 1980s as a foreclosed asset.

“We don’t want to run the bank. We believe it’s better for the private investor to do it. They have the expertise,” Garcia said.

As a strategic partner, the private investor will make a substantial capital infusion into the Family Bank to significantly boost its present operations.

Garcia said the Family Bank likely earned a net income of P70 million last year.

ICBC earlier sought a confirmation from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the granting of incentives for the entry of a third-party strategic investor in the Family Bank.

Specifically, the foreign bank sought a commercial license to operate and engage in expanded foreign currency deposit units and trust and quasi-banking functions.

Last May, officials of ICBC visited the country to scout for possible investment opportunities.