PSE names new chair, president

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has named its new top officials with lawyer Cornelio Peralta as chairman and Hans B. Sicat as president and CEO.

Peralta, 77, is a member of the PSE board from 2004 to 2008 and 2010. He has been an independent director of the PSE for several years and is also the chairman of the Market Integrity Board which exercises regulatory oversight and review powers over the exchange’s market regulation division.

He was also the president and chairman of Kimberly-Clark Philippines, the chairman and chief executive officer of the University of the East. He is a trustee of the University of the East and of UERM Memorial Medical Center.

He is a member of the board of governors of Makati Commercial Estate Association Inc and a member of the board of advisers of Philippine Airlines. He is also a director of JG Summit Holdings Inc., Wan Hai Lines Inc., Grow Holdings Inc. and the Securities Clearing Corp. of the Philippines. He worked as an associate attorney at the Crispin D. Baisas Law Office and later became a lawyer for Insular Life-FGU Insurance Group.

Peralta finished his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines. He then enrolled in an Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Sicat, 50, served as chairman and independent director of the PSE since May 2009. Prior to joining the PSE, he was an investment banker for 22 years. He was with the predecessor firms of Citigroup-Salomon Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney and Citicorp Investment Bank-based in New York, Hong Kong and Manila. He was involved in a wide range of capital markets and M&A transactions in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and emerging markets.

Sicat is the non-executive vice chairman of LegisPro Corp. which is focused on legal process outsourcing.

He hails from the University of the Philippines, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and his Master of Arts in economics. He has also finished coursework for the Doctorate Economics Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I am honored that the Board has placed its trust in me. I am aware of the enormity of the challenges and responsibilities ahead. I look forward to working with all stakeholders in addressing the twin major challenges facing the Philippine market... limited liquidity and good corporate governance,” Sicat said.