BDO seeks more branch licenses

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank Inc. will seek more branch licenses with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as it moves to intensify growth locally rather than expand abroad, a top bank official said.

BDO chairperson, Teresita Sy-Coson, in an interview on the sidelines of the Philippine International Banking Convention 2012, said they don’t see a need to tap the global market as yet.

“We just have to apply branches from the BSP,” she said, when asked about the bank’s decision to pursue organic growth.

On how many branches they intend to apply with the central bank, Coson said: “As much as we can handle... as much as the BSP can give us.”

Coson said they are also looking at the possibility of acquiring some troubled rural banks. “Our people are looking at it,” she said.

On going global, the BDO executive said “there’s not much business from that area as that coming from the Philippines.”

“We are more Philippine centric. We are still studying where we are going. But for now, we want to grow organically,” she stressed.

BDO is a member of the SM Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates with businesses spanning retail, mall operations, property development (residential, commercial, resorts/hotel) and financial services.

It is a full-service universal bank that provides a complete array of industry-leading products and services to the retail and corporate markets including lending (corporate, middle market, SME, and consumer), deposit-taking, foreign exchange, brokering, trust and investments, credit cards, corporate cash management and remittances.