About a month after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved the entry of the Industrial Bank of Korea, the central bank welcomed another foreign bank participant.
The newest competitor, described by Deputy BSP Governor for Supervision and Examination Sector Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. as an Asian bank, marks the fifth foreign bank to enter the Philippines, after the government lifted all restrictions to the entry of more foreign banks in the country.
“There is one more that came in after the Industrial Bank of Korea. Yes Asian. The Monetary Board approved it last Thursday [June 25] but they [the foreign bank] have not announced it yet,” Espenilla said.
Before this, there are already had been four foreign banks allowed to put up operations in the Philippines. The foreign lenders cater mostly to the requirements of foreign investors and citizens living or visiting the Philippines.
The four banks include Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Taiwan’s Cathay United Bank, South Korea’s Shinhan Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea.
Espenilla further said one more foreign bank has filed an application and is now under evaluation.
The liberalization of foreign bank entry to the Philippines were to have “clear economic benefits” to the country, including increased foreign direct investments and enhanced banking technology transfers to the country as a whole.
BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. also welcomed the passage of the unrestricted entry of foreign banks last year, saying this was good preparation for the scheduled integration of financial markets in the region.