BSP to speed...

and the country’s third biggest with assets totalling R1.483 trillion as of end-June, will also acquire the shares of Philippine Postal Corp. (PPC) and the Bureau of the Treasury in Postbank.

Postbank is a subsidiary of PPC. In the first six months of 2017, it has assets of R9.29 billion, down from end-March’s R11.30 billion. It has total liabilities of R8.38 billion as of end-June.

The EO emphasized that overseas Filipinos should have a policy bank “dedicated to provide financial products and services tailored to the requirements of overseas Filipinos and focused on delivery quality and efficient foreign remittance services.”

There have been plans over a decade ago for the two largest government banks – Landbank and Development Bank of the Philippines – to infuse capital in Postbank amounting to R350 million to turn it into an OFW financial institution.

Landbank has been set to acquire Postbank since last year and to allot an authorized capital of R3 billion for the proposed OFW Bank. Of its subscribed capital of R2 billion, half or R1 billion is paid-up capital by Landbank.

The previous proposal – which are still being finalized for submission to the BSP – is that Landbank will acquire OFW Bank as a subsidiary and about 30 percent will be owned by overseas Filipinos.

LandBank president Alex Buenaventura was quoted earlier as saying that it would take eight months to prepare all requirements to convert Postalbank as its subsidiary.

Postbank was first established to “help alleviate poverty, and push for inclusive growth and financial inclusion.”

The thrift bank operates 25 branches and six micro-banking offices, plus microfinanceoperations for micro-entrepreneurs, farmers, fisherfolks and the transport sector.