PHILDEVFINANCE (old news)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Noy off to Jakarta, launches first 5 PPP projects for bids

Noy off to Jakarta, launches first 5 PPP projects for bids

By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated March 08, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (11)

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino launched yesterday the first batch of infrastructure projects worth roughly P47.1 billion under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

Aquino made the announcement shortly before embarking on state visits to Indonesia and Singapore.

The President said the five big-ticket infrastructure projects, once completed, would help ease the movement of goods and products in and out of the country.

The projects are the expansion and upgrading of Light Rail Transit 1 and privatization of the operation and maintenance of Metro Rail Transit 3, both up for public bidding this month; linking of the South Luzon Expressway with Daang Hari Road, set for bidding next month; the NAIA Expressway Phase 2 for May; and the NLEX-SLEX Expressway link project in June.

“Our people will also have the benefit of riding the privatized MRT (Metro Rail) 3 and LRT (Light Rail Transit 1) lines, which promises upgrades in services while creating a more sustainable business model for our Metro Manila rail system,” the President said.

Aquino attended the launching at the Development Bank of the Philippines in Makati City where he also inaugurated the PPP Center Satellite Office yesterday morning.

Last night, he left for Indonesia and Singapore on state visits aimed at strengthening ties with the two members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and encouraging their investors to come to the Philippines.

“It brings me great pleasure that we are launching the first batch of PPP projects lined up for bidding in 2011. These projects will undoubtedly further stimulate our economy, which has already experienced unprecedented success in recent months,” he said.

“And with an estimated investment of more than a billion dollars lined up for bidding, these projects give us more reason to be optimistic: we can expect thousands of jobs for our people, growth in our economy, and long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with large corporations,” Aquino said in his speech.

“But these investments help our economy in other ways too. When these projects are finally completed, many of our citizens will benefit from these projects directly,” he added.

An improved transport and road system, he said, “bodes well for our economy, for our businesses, and for our people.”

“Make no mistake about it: these projects promise so much for our economy and for our people, and they will play a vital role in our administration’s fulfillment of our social contract with our people,” Aquino said.

“I will be leaving for state visits to Indonesia and Singapore so that I may enjoy the company of their leaders and deepen our ties with them,” he said.

“At the same time, I will be on the look-out for more potential partners in our PPP projects, and for agreements that will prove to be beneficial for our countrymen,” he added.

“And when I get home, I will go straight to the office to continue to fix what needs to be fixed in this country.”

‘Change not just an idea’

Aquino said that by pushing for the projects, he was fulfilling his campaign promise of good governance and reform.

“And in eight months in office, we have heeded their call. By means of weeding out corrupt officials and ending corrupt practices, we have instilled the values of honesty, integrity, and accountability into government institutions,” Aquino said.

“But of course, this is not enough. We realize that the end goal of running a transparent government is the delivery of services to the people – that our citizens are able to work in an economy that will afford them food, shelter, education and employment,” he noted.

“I know that there are those who make a living out of being critical of our administration. And perhaps that is to be expected in any country where free speech is a right granted to each and every person. But they cannot argue with results. They cannot argue with children who have finally found classrooms to study in, food to eat, and homes to live in. They cannot argue with roads that have been paved with not one corrupt official receiving tribute. They cannot argue with facts – that from our reform, and from our honest-to-goodness hard work, come developments that concretely change the way our people live for the better,” Aquino said.

“Our administration believes that change is not a mere idea. It is something that must become palpable in our economy, in our roads, and, ultimately and most importantly, in the lives of our people,” he said.

“Through projects such as the ones we are inaugurating, we are beginning to show the world that change is not just a word that politicians throw around. We are beginning to show them how change can and should reach ordinary citizens,” the President stressed.

Aquino said what his administration has achieved is a stepping stone to sustainable progress.

“And it should be expected that we would be in a celebratory mood, but in fact, the best way to respond to this success is to work even more and harder… If we are to catch up with the rest of the world, it is imperative that we outthink and outwork our competitors,” the President said.

“I invite all of you to continue working with us. We are in a good position now. We have finally driven away the darkness of corruption and deceit, and we have won back the daylight that promises prosperity for this country,” he said.

“And so long as we continue to fulfill our roles in our collective responsibilities, I am confident that the Philippines can be even more successful. I know that not all of us can participate perhaps in paving new roads and new highways in and around, for instance, the capital city; but all of us play a significant role in rebuilding this country. Let us not forget that. Let us build, build, and build,” Aquino said.

P-Noy’s lean delegation

Consistent with his three previous foreign trips, President Aquino leads a lean 53-man delegation as he embarks on a four-day state visit to Indonesia and Singapore, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said yesterday.

The President left at 8:55 last night on board a Cebu Pacific flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

Ochoa said a total of P12.27 million had been set aside for the two-leg state visits, excluding airfares, in line with the President’s “minimum expenditures, maximum returns” approach to foreign trips.

“The President continues to believe that we can achieve all the targets of our foreign trips without having to spend more than what is absolutely necessary,” Ochoa said.

The President is scheduled to meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudyohono and witness the signing of three agreements on basic education, sports cooperation, and cooperation on preventing and combating transnational crimes and capacity building.

The Chief Executive is billeted at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta, where he is to stay until tomorrow, before another state visit in nearby Singapore.

Today, Aquino and Yudhoyono will have a joint press briefing at lunchtime after his courtesy call and a photo session with the Indonesian leader at the Jepara Room in Istana Merdeka.

Bilateral meetings will also be held and attended by Secretaries Albert del Rosario (Foreign Affairs), Cesar Purisima (Finance), Gregory Domingo (Trade), Jose Rene Almendras (Energy), Philippine National Police chief Raul Bacalzo, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Ricardo Garcia, Secretary Herminio Coloma, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, DFA Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio and charge d’affaires Ma. Rosario Aguinaldo of the Philippine embassy in Jakarta.

Aquino will also be meeting with the Filipino community this afternoon. He will be the guest of the Indonesian leader in the state banquet tonight at the Banquet Hall in Istana Negara.

Aquino’s March 9 schedule includes, among others, a meeting with Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a meeting with Anthony Salim of Salim Group in the morning, before he ends his state visit early afternoon.

Tomorrow, the Chief Executive will fly to Singapore to meet with Singaporean President SR Nathan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and discuss the Aquino administration’s PPP initiatives, the Philippines-Singapore Action Plan, and other bilateral and ASEAN concerns. Singapore will also honor Aquino by naming a breed of orchid after him.

Others with the President’s delegation are Manuel RoxasII, Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Teresita Deles, and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chairman Cristino Naguiat.

“The President wants to try to pack as many meetings and briefings as possible to maximize his visits to these two countries. This way he hopes to get more done, given how short his stays in Indonesia and Singapore will be,” Ochoa said. – With Delon Porcalla, Rudy Santos

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Monday, March 7, 2011

LandBank to borrow $1.3 B for relending

LandBank to borrow $1.3 B for relending

By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN

March 4, 2011, 12:12am

MANILA, Philippines – Government financial institution Land Bank of the Philippines is expected to borrow up to $1.3 billion this year for relending to various clients, a document from the central bank said.

Based on pending applications and approvals-in-principles, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimates that the public sector which includes the GFIs will take out $10.4 billion of total foreign loans this year, either through the sale of bonds or direct loans.

LandBank President and CEO Gilda E. Pico yesterday said through text that the bank has no active applications for bond issuances or loans yet.

One of the bank’s biggest clients this year is the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) which it was preparing a P25-billion short-term loan line to fund budget and loan payment requirements.

Central bank sources said PSALM is looking at a financial deficit of P74 billion this year since there will be no big-ticket privatization of assets lined up in the next months to raise funds. A bulk of the deficit is expected to materialize in the first quarter, including a $200 million or P8.7 billion debt maturing this month.

In the meantime the BSP has already approved-in-principle LandBank’s planned issue of up to $250 million of hybrid tier1 capital global certificates.

The issuance was approved before the BSP capped the banks’ hybrid tier1 and tier2 issuance as foreign borrowings and subject to foreign loan ceilings last November.

LandBank had originally plan to issue the notes – for loan payments and capital – in 2009 but the bank shied away from the bonds market due to high rates and also because there was no urgent need to raise the capital.

Last year the bank, the country’s fourth biggest, earned total income of P8.1 billion, up 20 percent over 2009 results, and exceeding the 2010 target of P7.2 billion.

The higher profitability pushed its Return on Equity or ROE to a high 15 percent at the end of December while its capital adequacy ratio also remained on the high side above 17 percent indicating the bank’s capability to withstand risks.

[Philippine-DEVFINANCE] Farmers benefit in value chains of Jollibee onions, SMC cassava

Farmers benefit in value chains of Jollibee onions, SMC cassava

March 5, 2011, 12:13am

MANILA, Philippines – Farmers from Central Luzon to Northern Mindanao are benefitting from being part of the value chain systems of the country’s largest corporations, particularly in the onions used for the burger patties of Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) and in the cassava supplies as the principal tapioca (sago) ingredient of San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI)-San Miguel Pure Foods.

This was revealed during the two-day People-Powered Markets trade fair exhibit at the NBC Tent in Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, where the corporate-led social development foundation Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) was a co-presenter.

The other major presenters are the Ninoy & Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF) and the Filipino Micro-Enterprise (PinoyMe) Consortium, together with the Directories Philippines Corp. (DPC) Electronic Yellow Page (EYP).

The trade fair aims to create market links among micro-entrepreneurs and corporations as well as micro-financing institutions through the value chain or supply chain systems, paving the way for a truly inclusive economy benefitting all Filipinos and keeping alive the spirit of People Power.

Rafael C. Lopa, executive director of both NCAF and PBSP, earlier said the trade fair would bring about shared progress and prosperity for all Filipinos, as well as demonstrate the different ways in which people and private companies could use the market to address social problems in the country, while expanding the marketplace using the value-chain approach.

PBSP, the pioneer in corporate citizenship and social responsibility practices in the country for the past 40 years, includes Jollibee and San Miguel group of companies among its 240-plus roster of corporate membership.

Aside from the onion farmers of Jollibee and the cassava farmers of San Miguel, the trade fair also showcased the supply chains of organic white rice and muscovado sugar farmers assisted by Global Organic and Wellness Corp. (Glowcorp) and both green and red bean farmers of Arengga roasted coffee.

For its part, the value chain program for Jollibee onions in Central Luzon was made possible through such partnerships with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC), and the Kalasag Farmers Cooperative in San Jose, Nueva Ecija.

With the Jollibee-CRS-NLDC program called “Bridging Farmers to the JFC Supply Chain,” the vice president of the largest farmers group in Northern Mindanao revealed how onion farmers benefitted in this value chain, particularly those in Impasugong, Bukidnon and in Claveria, Misamis Oriental.

The booth exhibit of Jollibee also showcased a CRS project called “Clustering Approach to Agro-enterprise Development,” in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to help cluster farmers groups of such crops as rice, coffee, and vegetables.

Joan C. Uy, a marketing consultant of CRS and marketing VP of the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers Association (NorminVeggies), cited the benefits of value chain business service providers amid shipping and other logistical challenges to make the onion farmers in Bukidnon and Misamis more competitive suppl

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Farmers benefit in value chains of Jollibee onions, SMC cassava

Sunday, March 6, 2011

BIR requires individual taxpayers to file annual information return

BIR requires individual taxpayers to file annual information return

By CHINO S. LEYCO
March 5, 2011, 11:47pm

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is requiring certain taxpayers to file an annual information return (AIR) starting taxable year 2010 to determine their true and accurate income.

In a statement, the government's main tax agency said that individuals, estates, and trusts will be required to file AIR or the BIR Form No. 1705 together with their income tax return (ITR).

The BIR said AIR shall include income subjected to final withholding tax and exclusions from gross income.

Individuals who are not required to file a tax return or those qualified for substituted filing may, however, file a tax return for loan, travel, and other purposes in which case they should also file the AIR.

Others not required to file an ITR but are required to file an AIR are pure compensation income earners whose annual taxable income derived from within the Philippines exceeds P500,000 tax and on which income the correct income tax has been correctly withheld. Also individuals, estates and trusts whose sole income has been subjected to final withholding tax in excess of P125,000 annually, whether remitted or not to the BIR and individuals whose sole income is exempt where the aggregate amount exceeds P500,000 annually.

Pure compensation income earners who derived income from two or more employers are required to file an ITR together with the AIR.

The deadline for filing is April 15 each year for those filing the ITR as well as the AIR and May 15 each year for those filing the AIR only.

Those filing their returns electronically shall, in the meantime, submit in hard copies the e-filed ITR and the AIR within 10 days from the filing of the electronic return until such time that electronic filing of the AIR becomes

Saturday, March 5, 2011

BIR tightens rules on tax filing

BIR tightens rules on tax filing
By Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)
Updated March 05, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has tightened its rules on tax filing to ensure that information submitted by taxpayers is accurate.

Through Revenue Regulations No. 2-2011, the BIR is requiring certain taxpayers to file an Annual Information Return (AIR) or BIR Form No. 1705 starting taxable year 2010.

The AIR shall include income subjected to final withholding tax and exclusions from gross income.

Individuals who are not required to file a tax return or those qualified for substituted filing may, however, file a tax return for loan, travel and other purposes in which case they should also file the AIR, the BIR said in its statement.

Furthermore, the BIR said that there will be others who are not required to file an ITR but are required under the regulations to file an AIR only.

“These include pure compensation income earners whose annual taxable income derived from within the Philippines exceeds P500,000 tax and on which income the correct income tax has been correctly withheld; individuals, estates and trusts whose sole income has been subjected to final withholding tax in excess of P125,000 annually, whether remitted or not to the BIR; and individuals whose sole income is exempt where the aggregate amount exceeds P500,000 annually,” the BIR said.

Pure compensation income earners who derived income from two or more employers are required to file an ITR together with the AIR, the BIR also said.

The deadline for filing is April 15 each year for those filing the ITR as well as the AIR and May 15 each year for those filing the AIR only. Those filing their returns electronically shall, in the meantime, submit in hard copies the e-filed ITR and the AIR within ten days from the filing of the electronic return until such time that electronic filing of the AIR becomes available.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Oikocredit unveils measures to improve social performance,in investment

Oikocredit unveils measures to improve social performance
in investment

‎Microfinance Focus, March 04, 2011: Oikocredit, a cooperative financial institution that offers loans or investment capital to MFIs, cooperatives, SMEs recently announced a slew of measures for their partners to improve social performance. Oikocredit offers funding to project partners in over 70 developing countries and a network of volunteers and staff attracts investments in 16 countries worldwide.

At a local level, all regional offices have appointed social performance management specialists to assist project partners with social performance development and management. Internally, Oikocredit has extended its expectations of project partners, advocating the Client Protection Principles to ensure end-clients are treated fairly. The Principles were integrated within new partner and new contract approval criteria.

These measures have been taken considering many questions posed to the microfinance industry in recent times. Oikocredit said “The growing sector has attracted stakeholders with varying motivations. Reports of abusive collection practices in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and over-indebtedness of clients have highlighted the importance of selecting the right partners for Oikocredit”.

Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP)

Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP)

Business Option

By FLOR G. TARRIELA
March 3, 2011, 2:04am

MANILA, Philippines – Common topic among bankers nowadays is ICAAP. What is ICAAP? ICAAP or the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process is the process by which banks assess their capital adequacy relative to their risk profile. The objective is for the banks’ Board of Directors and senior management to ensure that the banks maintain an appropriate level of capital commensurate to their exposure to credit risk, market risk, operational risk and all other material risks to which banks are exposed.

On January 15, 2009, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP, the primary supervisory body of Philippine banks, issued Circular No. 639 containing guidelines on how banks must align with the Basel II requirements effective January 1, 2011. The Basel II is composed of three pillars:

I. Minimum capital requirements

II. Supervisory review

III. Market discipline

I. Minimum Capital Requirements

This is the first pillar where banks would need to maintain a minimum regulatory capital amount that covers three main risks - credit, market and operational risks. Banks start with the credit risk (counter-party’s failure to meet the terms of the contract) component calculation using a standardized approach and progress to internal ratings based approach. In the standardized approach, the risk weight is applied on the basis of the rating of the counter-party and the maturity profile of the exposure. In the internal ratings based approach, the values of probability of default, loss given default, exposure at default and maturity are used in the computation for capital charge. The values are estimated using historical data of the bank’s credit portfolio.

The market risk (risk to earnings or capital arising from market-making, dealing, and position- taking in interest rate, foreign exchange, equity and commodities markets) component relies on Value-at-Risk (VAR) approaches to compute the risk of the exposure. VAR shows that for a selected portfolio, how much you stand to lose, over a certain period and with a certain probability.

The operational risk (risk to earnings or capital arising from fraud, error, inability to deliver products and services, maintain a competitive position and manage information) component is calculated using either a basic indicator approach or a standardized approach or an advanced measurement approach. The basic indicator approach allows the bank to compute operational risk as the average of the positive annual gross income figures for the past three years to calculate the capital charge. The standardized approach considers the banks’ major business lines and the capital for operational risk for each of these major business lines is computed as a percentage of the bank’s gross income from that particular line of business. In the advanced measurement approach, the banks will employ their own empirical models to calculate the required capital for operational risk.

II. Supervisory Review

This is the second pillar and deals with the regulatory response to the first pillar and provides a framework for dealing with the residual risks such as compliance risk, concentration risk, strategic risk, reputational risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk in the banking book, and legal risk that are not covered in the minimum capital requirements. The supervisory review process ensures that banks have considered all material risks in the business and requires banks to develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing their risks.

All risks that are material to the bank need to be quantified and stress tested. The relevant procedures supporting the assessment process, the results or target capital requirements that are commensurate with the bank’s risk profile and control environment are communicated through an ICAAP document that are firstly reviewed and approved by the Board, and then to the supervisory regulatory body and the market.

The BSP, as regulator, evaluates the ICAAP document to see how well banks assess their capital needs in relation to their risks. It expects banks to operate above and hold more than the minimum capital requirements. If there were deficiencies identified in the process and/or capital, during the periodic examination of banks, BSP, as the supervisor would intervene and prompt, decisive action and directives would be communicated to the Board to reduce the risk or restore the capital.

III. Market Discipline

This is the third pillar and it details the obligations of the bank to disclose information to all stakeholders. The clients and shareholders should have sufficient understanding to comprehend how the bank manages its risks. The purpose is to allow more transparency and let the market have a better idea of the banks risk positions so that they can deal with the bank in a better way.

On March 31, 2009, Philippine banks submitted their first trial ICAAP Document to BSP which was followed by a series of dialogues with some banks. However, the schedule of dialogues was disrupted in the last quarter of 2009 by the super typhoon Ondoy destruction that affected some banking business operations and personal properties of bank personnel.

As such, the second trial ICAAP Document submitted on January 31, 2010 was a reprieve to some banks to re-assess their respective ICAAP model founded on an integrated approach of capital planning, risk management framework and business strategic planning. Then the second round table dialogues of the second trial ICAAP Document resumed with the regulators satisfied to formalize the ICAAP implementation across all banks effective January 31, 2011.

The first trial ICAAP Document employed a simplified risk charge based approach. However the simplified risk charge based approach did not consider items that had carried different risks to the banks, and thus, were simply subjected to the same risk charge. As the ICAAP appreciation and the level of execution were evolving, the regulators encouraged banks to develop their own internal ICAAP model to calculate the minimum capital requirements. Cognizant that the banks were faced with other material risks more than the simplified credit risk and market risk capital requirements, the well-diversified banks had to compute for the different families of risk affecting their balance sheets. It was the Basel II accord which addressed some of these concerns, by introducing the concept of operational risk capital and provided capital requirements for new products that were previously not handled in the original capital accord. It took what is now regarded as the third and final step towards capital requirements that were reflective of credit, market and operational risk.

In PNB, we take the ICAAP very seriously. Series of meetings and discussions were held by senior management with most Board committee chairmen. Incidentally, PNB’s Audit committee chair is “just” the former managing partner of SGV, Gloria Tan Climaco; the Risk Management Committee chair is “just’ former BSP advisor to PNB and former president of Land Bank Doy Casuela; and the Chairman of Trust is “just” the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Fely Miranda. At the recent ICAAP meeting with the BSP, it was like PNB President Eugene Acevedo was doing a “revalida” especially with the insightful questions and comments by Deputy Governor Nesting Espenilla and Dr. Noet Ravalo and with the active participation of other BSP senior officials - Dolly Yuvienco, Leny Silvestre, Judith Sungsai and Resty Cruz.

In a world where capital is neither free or may be scarce, the new paradigm is risk based pricing.

With the implementation of Basel II accord (recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to create an international standard that banking regulators can use when creating regulations about how much capital banks need to put aside to guard against all types of risks) and the removal of traditional barriers, managing a bank across geographic boundaries, bankers need to think more carefully about the capital impact of options. This cannot be done until we include and accept risk capital based resource allocation in our mindset, our pricing, our decision-making and our regulatory reporting processes. This will introduce a significant new cost component in our pricing – both in terms of contributed capital costs as well as in terms of investments in technology, infrastructure, process improvement and change management.

Those of us who do well in accepting and implementing these new frameworks will succeed as financial institutions and bankers. The positive results will be seen simply in the increase in net profits and the rise in share price.

ICAAP is ultimately a commitment that must be beyond compliance and more of a disciplined approach to ensure that the bank’s targeted capital position is adequate to cover the various risks that the bank may be exposed including other material risks that the bank may encounter in a sphere of forward looking scenarios reflective of changes in internal and external factors and considering changes in economic and business cycles. The guiding principles in implementing ICAAP is not only applicable to banks but can also be an effective discipline that may be used by business enterprises.

* * *

Ms. Tarriela is the Chairman of Philippine National Bank. She was formerly Undersecretary of Finance and the first Filipina Vice President of Citibank NA.

LandBank to borrow $1.3 B for relending

LandBank to borrow $1.3 B for relending

By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN
March 4, 2011, 12:12am

MANILA, Philippines – Government financial institution Land Bank of the Philippines is expected to borrow up to $1.3 billion this year for relending to various clients, a document from the central bank said.

Based on pending applications and approvals-in-principles, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimates that the public sector which includes the GFIs will take out $10.4 billion of total foreign loans this year, either through the sale of bonds or direct loans.

LandBank President and CEO Gilda E. Pico yesterday said through text that the bank has no active applications for bond issuances or loans yet.

One of the bank’s biggest clients this year is the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) which it was preparing a P25-billion short-term loan line to fund budget and loan payment requirements.

Central bank sources said PSALM is looking at a financial deficit of P74 billion this year since there will be no big-ticket privatization of assets lined up in the next months to raise funds. A bulk of the deficit is expected to materialize in the first quarter, including a $200 million or P8.7 billion debt maturing this month.

In the meantime the BSP has already approved-in-principle LandBank’s planned issue of up to $250 million of hybrid tier1 capital global certificates.

The issuance was approved before the BSP capped the banks’ hybrid tier1 and tier2 issuance as foreign borrowings and subject to foreign loan ceilings last November.

LandBank had originally plan to issue the notes – for loan payments and capital – in 2009 but the bank shied away from the bonds market due to high rates and also because there was no urgent need to raise the capital.

Last year the bank, the country’s fourth biggest, earned total income of P8.1 billion, up 20 percent over 2009 results, and exceeding the 2010 target of P7.2 billion.

The higher profitability pushed its Return on Equity or ROE to a high 15 percent at the end of December while its capital adequacy ratio also remained on the high side above 17 percent indicating the bank’s capability to withstand risks.

SSS to issue new IDs

SSS to issue new IDs
By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) Updated February 21, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Social Security System (SSS) is expected to roll out a new government identification card in the first half of the year.

SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros Jr. said they are rushing the release of the new ID cards so as not to further cause undue inconvenience to members.

“We are already working on that,” De Quiros said.

He said the project was started during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and is just being carried out by the Aquino administration.

The SSS suspended its ID production last April 2010 after its card printing machines, which were acquired back in 1998, broke down.

“The SSS has stopped producing ID cards since April 2010 as the intention is to replace the old SSS ID with the Unified Multi-Purpose ID or UMID,” De Quiros explained.

The cards will be rolled out in partnership with the Philippine Postal Corp., the Government Service Insurance System and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

“We are finalizing preparations for the implementation of a new SSS ID system to upgrade the old one. We expect SSS ID production to resume on April 2011,” De Quiros said.

SSS has authorized PhilPost to enroll SSS members under the UMID through data capture stations that the postal service agency will set up all over the country.

Under the agreement, PhilPost will capture biometric data such as fingerprints, facial image and signature for the issuance of ID cards under the nationwide system.

PhilPost will set up the data capture workstations at SSS branches and postal offices nationwide.

The government said UMID aims to reduce costs to the public by doing away with multiple ID cards and redundant databases. The SSS was tasked as lead implementing agency due to its experience in managing a large-scale biometric ID system.

The UMID card will enable SSS members to get payments for pensions, loans and benefits through PhilPost’s nationwide network of about 2,200 post offices, more than half of which also function as money transfer offices at present.

The shift to the UMID upgrades the present SSS ID system, which has been using the same card technology since it was introduced over a decade ago.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Bangladesh's 'Banker to the Poor' Faces a Political Battle to Survive

Bangladesh's 'Banker to the Poor' Faces a Political Battle to Survive
By Sumon K. Chakrabarti / New Delhi

The clock started ticking for Nobel Peace laureate Professor Muhammad
Yunus in 2007. That was the year the celebrated economist and
microcredit guru made a brief foray into Bangladeshi politics. Two
squabbling political parties have run the country throughout its
history, but in 2007 a military caretaker government was in charge.
Yunus launched the "Citizens' Power" party, billing itself as a clean,
efficient alternative to political unrest. Instead, the move opened the
door to political attacks. In March 2007, Awami League politician A.M.A.
Muhith told a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor: "The fact that
Yunus is being able to carry on political activities when all the other
parties are straitjacketed by the state of emergency implies a tacit
endorsement by the current regime."
His party never took off. In 2009 elections, the Awami League won
national elections, returning its leader, Sheik Hasina, to power and
putting Yunus and the Grameen Bank, the microlending bank that he
founded in 1983, back under scrutiny. In November 2010, a Norwegian
television documentary accused Yunus and Grameen of improperly moving
funds donated by the Norwegian government. The Nobel laureate was
subsequently vilified in the Bangladeshi media and faced an
investigation in Norway. Oslo cleared Yunus and Grameen of any financial
impropriety, but the damage was done. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
branded Yunus a "blood-sucker of the poor" and pushed for his removal
from the helm of Grameen. Muhith, who is now finance minister, has
called for him to "stay away" from the bank. On Wednesday afternoon, the
government fired the 70-year-old Yunus from the institution he'd founded.
(See pictures of Yunus' career.)
"Muhammad Yunus has been removed from the post of managing director of
Grameen Bank," A F M Asaduzzaman, deputy general manager of the
country's central bank, told reporters in Dhaka. The central bank
declared that Yunus had violated the country's retirement laws by
staying on as Grameen's head long past the mandatory retirement age of 60.
But the real drama began an hour later, when Jannat-E-Quanine, the
spokesperson for Grameen Bank, stoutly defended its founder, announcing
that Yunus will remain in charge and denying that he has violated any
laws. The bank said in a statement: "Grameen Bank has been duly
complying with all applicable laws. It has also complied with the law in
respect of appointment of the Managing Director." A spokesperson for
Yunus said he declined to make any further comment about the charges
against him.
(Watch "10 Questions for Muhammad Yunus.")
But Khondaker Muzammel Huq, the government-appointed chairman of Grameen
Bank, told TIME that Yunus had been relieved of his duties for failing
to get the mandatory clearance from the central bank when he was
appointed managing director in 1999. "In the by-laws of Grameen Bank, it
is clearly stated that the managing director should be appointed by the
board with the prior approval of the Bangladesh Bank," Huq said. "That
was not done. So he has been relinquished of his duties. We have sent a
letter accordingly to Grameen bank."
Sheikh Hasina's government, meanwhile, is working overtime to convince
the international community that their move was not illegal. On Monday,
U.S. Ambassador James F. Moriarty met Muhith to express his concerns.
Muhith is expected to meet ambassadors of various countries and
representatives of World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian
Development Bank to clarify the government's decision on Yunus today. He
told AFP, "We'll deal with it gracefully."
(Comment on this story.)
The Friends of Grameen, a group of charities led by former Irish
President Mary Robinson, last month alleged that Yunus was being
subjected to "politically orchestrated vilification." Yunus, too, has
called the charges against him politically motivated in the past. But
his widespread support abroad has fueled criticism of him at home as
someone caught up in his own fame. "The government seems to be legally
right, but this is surely a politically incorrect move, now that some
international celebrities, whose credibility you probably cannot
question, are campaigning for Muhammad Yunus," says Toufique Imroze
Khalidi, editor-in-chief of BDNEWS24. Khalidi says the government's role
in helping to start Grameen Bank, in which it holds a small minority
stake, has been ignored. "Professor Yunus simply outsmarts the
government internationally with his superb PR skills."
The government in Dhaka has also capitalized on a wider disaffection
with microfinance. The Grameen bank's micro-credit model is a
"death-trap for the poor," says Professor Anu Mohammed, a leading
Bangladeshi economist. "Their programs are such that do not reduce but
reproduce poverty." Those same criticisms have hit microfinance lenders
from Latin America to Africa to India, and Bangladesh is no exception. A
five-member review committee on Grameen Bank was constituted on Jan. 11
to conduct a special audit of the bank, focusing on the rates of
interest at which it borrows money and then lends to the poor. Defenders
of microcredit acknowledge that the model cannot do much to help the
poorest of the poor, but says it does serve an important function. As an
editorial in the Financial Times put it: "Microfinance may not on its
own lift people out of poverty, but it does enhance financial inclusion,
letting poor borrowers smooth their incomes so they can cope with
illness or other temporary shocks."
Grameen, too, has begun to expand its model beyond just microfinance,
into savings programs and "social businesses" that might do more to
directly ease poverty. But for now, those efforts will be on hold. Yunus
will likely be spending much of his time in court in the coming months,
fighting what looks set to be a long legal battle.
Sumon K Chakrabarti is the Chief National Correspondent of CNN-IBN

Microinsurance gets rolling in rural areas

Microinsurance gets rolling in rural areas

AS most rural residents, which comprise a near majority of the population, are still without the benefit of insurance coverage, the potential of the micro insurance business is boundless. But what is needed is an earnest effort from both the government and the private sector for an education drive in the countryside.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Insurance Commission (IC) recently released the guidelines for the provision of micro insurance through the rural banking system to take the place of mostly informal insurance schemes in rural communities.

An ironic situation exists in the country where the most vulnerable to natural calamities are the least insured. The government is mandated to provide insurance coverage to those who have the least means to obtain them but it does not have enough resources for such service, thus the need for the private sector to lead in the microinsurance market. Even counting the informal schemes such as the so-called paluwagan among mostly cooperatives, the penetration of insurance services in the rural areas is very low.

IC data showed only 13.9 percent of the population last year was covered by some form of insurance. Among the poor, only 2.9 million of the 27.6 million Filipinos below the poverty line have some form of cover for their future. Since most of the clients of rural banks are farm workers and are considered the most susceptible to weather changes—they being the most in need of ample insurance cover—banks in the countryside would be the best conduits for microinsurance.

With the recently released guidelines, rural banks can now offer microinsurance services to all borrowers and depositors including their family members as dependents. Rural bank clients qualify for microinsurance services if they have a savings account with an average daily balance of P15,000 or below that would cover majority of depositors among rural banks. Estimates made by the BSP showed the microinsurance service can raise P2.5 billion annually even on premiums of as low as P1 a day with potential client base of seven million rural bank depositors.

Microinsurance is an integral service that protects not only the insured rural folk but also the availability of lending since banks will have less to worry about with the radical shifts in weather affecting farm businesses and loan exposures.
Crop insurance, as an example, provides farmers affected by natural calamities the seed money to restart their businesses.

The new IC circular states that all insurance firms, cooperatives, and mutual benefit associations licensed by the commission may sell microinsurance products, which may consist of one type or several products—life, nonlife and health—bundled together.

It also requires microinsurance agents to be licensed by the commission. These agents, however, need not take the regular licensure exam but must undergo a special training program and pass a qualifying exam. To get the ball rolling for microinsurance, the Department of Finance (DoF) and the IC have launched a campaign to promote microinsurance awareness in the country.

The collaboration between the national government and local government units (LGUs) is seen as a key move to promote risk protection in the rural areas. Aside from the government initiative, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-backed Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) program of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) held series of forums to propagate the microinsurance business in the countryside primarily through the training of its bank members.

RBAP-MABS seminars and workshops provide rural banks with information on initiating the process to become licensed microinsurance agents. The RBAP has partner-insurers for its member banks established insurers AA International, Country Bankers Life Insurance, Philippine Prudential Life, PhilAm Life, Pioneer Insurance, Malayan-Grepalife and MicroEnsure Philippines.

The propagation of microinsurance would only redound to the benefit of majority of Filipinos but a serious effort must be made to convince them that insurance is not only for the rich.

A private-public partnership is needed towards this end.

Short URL: http://www.manilatimes.net/?p=5537

GM Bank expands mobile banking scope

GM Bank expands mobile banking scope
(The Philippine Star) Updated March 01, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)

MANILA, Philippines - GM Bank is the largest rural bank in Nueva Ecija (Philippines) with its head office in Cabanatuan City, more than three hours by land north of Manila. It has been in partnership with Globe’s G-Xchange Inc. (GXI) and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines-Microentrepreneurs Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) program and for its mobile phone banking initiative since 2006.

It is also one of the banks participating in the new Channel Management Initiative supported by USAID/Philippines and MICRA Philippines, which is supported by Mercy Corps through a grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The initiative focuses on developing partnerships between local merchant-partners who are accredited GXI cash-in and cash-out outlets (CICOs).

Rural banks provide liquidity services to the CICOs as well as send customers to their shops. The CICOs provide cash-in and cash-out services for the rural banks and help them in promoting mobile phone banking services.

Recently, GM Bank shared a new use case focused on students and schools to stimulate an m-banking ecosystem between the bank, its merchant-partners, students, and neighboring schools.

The province, especially Cabanatuan City, is the educational center of the Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley regions.

Cabanatuan City is a university town with students comprising approximately 48 percent of its more than 260,000 population. The city has three universities, five colleges, one science high school, more than 15 public high schools, and more than 80 public and private primary schools. Notable institutions include Wesleyan University (Philippines), which is the largest and oldest private university in Nueva Ecija, Araullo University, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, College of the Immaculate Concepcion, La Fortuna Colleges, the Dr. Gloria Lacson Foundation Colleges, and the Maria Assumpta Catholic Seminary.

With the large number of schools, the senior management saw the opportunity to support families wanting to pay their children’s tuition and send allowances by authorizing payments and withdrawals from their GM Bank savings account and the bank’s GCASH-based mobile phone banking services.

In addition, the progressive rural bank saw the opportunity to provide salary loans via Text-A-Credit to school employees and payroll services via Text-A-Sweldo for the schools.

By maximizing its banking relationships with the schools and parents, students can also jumpstart the local mobile money ecosystem. To this end, channel officers have begun identifying and training students and GCASH accredited merchant-partners within or near school grounds on the use of m-banking services.

Yunus removed as Grameen Bank's MD

Yunus removed as Grameen Bank's MD

Reuters | 2011-03-03 01:30:00

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been removed from his position as head of microlender Grameen Bank, Bangladeshâ€™s central bank said on Wednesday, following allegations of irregularities in its operations.

Yunus, 70, set up Grameen Bank and has been its managing director since 2000. Lauded abroad by politicians and financiers, he has been under attack from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinaâ€™s government since late last year, after a Norwegian documentary alleged Grameen Bank was dodging taxes.

Yunus has denied any financial irregularities and his supporters say he is being discredited by the government because of a feud with Hasina dating back to 2007, when he tried to set up a political party while Bangladesh was ruled by an interim military government.

"We have delivered a letter to the Grameen Bank that Muhammad Yunus has been removed," said the central bank governorâ€™s spokesman, A F M Asaduzzaman.

On Tuesday, a central bank official said a letter had been sent to the Finance Ministry demanding Yunus retire immediately because he had been in his post at Grameen for nearly a decade longer than the law allowed.

The official retirement age of managing directors at commercial banks is 60.

Yunus has said the bankâ€™s board, which is mainly made up of borrowers, allows him to stay on as long as he is able to perform his duties.

In a sign of a rift within the microlender, Grameen Bank said Yunus was staying on while a government-appointed chairman said the order had been implemented. It was unclear how the deadlock would be resolved.

"This is a legal issue. Grameen Bank is taking legal advice. It is also examining all the legal aspects of this issue," Grameen Bank said in a statement.

"Grameen Bank has been duly complying with all applicable laws. It has also complied with the law in respect of appointment of the managing director," the statement added.

"According to the Bankâ€™s legal advisors, the founder of Grameen Bank, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, is accordingly continuing in his office."

Separately, Grameenâ€™s government-appointed chairman Muzammel Huq told Reuters: "Today I received the letter from the central bank and I was directed to implement the decision."

"The decision has been implemented with immediate effect," Huq added.

Last month, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said Yunus should step down, as he was now "old and we need to define the bankâ€™s role and bring it under close regulation".

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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

'Maximizing yields on dividend income - tax treaty or tax code?'

'Maximizing yields on dividend income - tax treaty or tax code?'

KPMG CORNER By Ana Liza K. Pural-andal (The Philippine Star)
Updated March 01, 2011 12:00 AM

Is the Euro-American financial crisis over? Economists have divergent views on the matter. Notably, the economic outlook for Asia remains optimistic that growth within the region will continue. As a result, investors are looking at the investment opportunities in Asia. Is the Philippines ready for this? Do Philippine companies offer yields that maximize return on investments (ROI)?

Inbound investors, particularly non-resident foreign corporations (NRFC) investing in equity, have to consider not only the financial stability of the business entity in which an investment will be made but also the taxes applicable to dividends to be received. The importance of tax planning has to be emphasized as NRFC’s dividend income is generally subject to 30 percent final withholding tax (FWT). A lower rate may be possible under the provisions of the tax treaty or the tax sparing provisions of the Tax Code but availment of lower tax rate is subject to stringent requirements being imposed by Philippine tax authorities.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) currently requires that a tax treaty relief must first be procured with the International Tax Affairs Division (ITAD) before applying the preferential tax rates on dividends under the different tax treaties. Failure to make such an application with the BIR-ITAD shall subject the NRFC’s dividend income to 30 percent FWT. The BIR’s present position finds support in the Court of Tax Appeals case affirmed by the Supreme Court with a justification that such requirement will prevent any erroneous interpretation and/or application of the treaty provisions with which the Philippines is a signatory to.

Bolstered by the Supreme Court’s earlier affirmation of the tax treaty relief requirement, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 72-2010 dated Aug. 25, 2010 which provides guidelines on the processing of tax treaty relief applications (TTRA) pursuant to existing Philippine tax treaties.

An applicant filing a TTRA for dividend income should accomplish BIR Form No. 0901-D together with the following general documentary requirements: (1) Proof of Residency issued by the tax authority of the country of the income earner to the effect that such income earner is a resident of such country for purposes of the tax treaty being invoked in the tax year concerned; (2) Articles of Incorporation or equivalent Fact of Establishment/ Creation/Organization); (3) Special Power of Attorney; (4) Certification of Business Presence in the Philippines; and (5) Certificate of No Pending Case. The documents executed abroad should be notarized and authenticated by the Philippine consulate or embassy in the place of execution.

In addition, RMO 72-2010 requires the submission of the following specific documents for dividend income: (1) Certified copy of Board of Investments registration (if applicable) of the payor of the dividends, including a Sworn Statement that such registration has not been cancelled at the time of the transaction; and (2) Certification from Corporate Secretary showing all the following information: (a) Details of dividend declaration (with attached related Board Resolution); (b) Number, value and type of shares of the nonresident income earner as of the date of record/transaction, and as of the date of payment of the subject dividends; (c) Percentage of ownership of the nonresident income earner as of the date of record/transaction, and as of the date of the payment of subject dividends; (d) Acquisition date(s) of the subject shares; and (e) Mode of acquisition of the subject shares.

A highlight of the subject RMO is Section 14 which provides that the filing of TTRA should always be made before the transaction. Transaction for purposes of TTRA filing shall mean before the occurrence of the first taxable event. Failure to properly file the TTRA with ITAD within the period prescribed shall have the effect of disqualifying the TTRA under this RMO.

The current interpretation of the BIR of RMO No. 72-2010 is that ITAD certification is necessary prior to every dividend pay-out even if the dividends is from the same Philippine company in the same calendar year.

In contrast, the tax sparing provision under Section 28 (B)(5)(b) of the Tax Code provides for a preferential FWT rate of 15 percent on the amount of cash dividends received from a domestic corporation. Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 80-91 dated Aug. 12, 1991 provides the following documentation requirements to subject the dividends received by the NRFC to the 15 percent preferential FWT rate: (1) To show the actual amount credited by the foreign government against the income tax due from the non-resident foreign investor-stockholder (head office abroad) on the dividends received from a domestic corporation; (2) To present the income tax return of its mother company for the taxable year when the dividends were received; and (3) To submit any authenticated document showing that the foreign Government credited 20 percent (now 15 percent) of the tax deemed paid in the Philippines.

The existing interpretation of the said tax sparing provision is that the 15 percent preferential FWT applies even if the country in which the NRFC is domiciled grants tax exemption or does not impose a tax on the dividends remitted by a domestic corporation to such NRFC.

A highlight of the subject RMC is the absence of a period within which to comply with the documentation requirements for submission to the BIR. Revenue issuances and rulings on the subject provide for the submission of the documents to the BIR within a reasonable time.

The glaring difference between the processes involved in availing tax treaty relief against the tax sparing provisions of the Tax Code is interesting to note. Some in fact believes that the stringent requirements to avail lower tax rates involve cost and time which can discourage foreign investors. For NRFCs with equity investments in the Philippines, you may want to consider whether to be taxed based on a lower rate either under the tax treaty or the Tax Code.

(Ana Liza K. Pural-Andal is an Assistant Manager for Tax of Manabat Sanagustin & Co., CPAs, a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (KPMG International), a Swiss entity.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG in the Philippines. For comments or inquiries, please email manila@kpmg.comor apural-andal@kpmg.com)

Bank deposits up 9.8% to P5.1T in 2010

Bank deposits up 9.8% to P5.1T in 2010
By Lawrence Aqcaoili (The Philippine Star)
Updated March 01, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippiones - Total bank deposits grew 9.8 percent as the number of deposit accounts posted its highest growth since 1981 as more and more Filipinos are saving in the formal banking sector, the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) reported yesterday.

PDIC president Jose Nograles announced yesterday that total deposits reached P5.1 trillion last year from about P4.65 trillion in 2009 as the number of deposit accounts posted a double-digit growth of 15.1 percent to 39.7 million wherein 5.2 million new accounts were opened last year.

Nograles said the 15.1 percent year-on-year growth in deposit accounts was the highest since 1981 and marks the second time that the growth was at double digits since 1997.

He added that the increase was also faster than the 5.4 percent growth posted in 2009.

Data showed that savings deposits jumped 10.9 percent to P2.4 trillion accounting for 46.7 percent of the total bank deposits last year while time deposits went up by 6.7 percent to P1.7 trillion and cornered 34.8 percent of the total deposits. Checking accounts went up by 13.3 percent to P947 billion accounting for 18.5 percent of the total bank deposit accounts last year.

Individual depositors cornered the largest share of deposits with 56.9 percent or P2.9 trillion followed by private corporations with 30 percent or P1.5 trillion, and the National Government with 9.9 percent or P509 billion.

“This shows that more Filipinos are saving in the formal banking sector,” he stressed.

Universal and commercial banks accounted for 88 percent or P4.5 trillion of the total deposits followed by thrift banks which cornered 9.6 percent or P490.6 billion, and rural banks with 2.4 percent or P123.2 billion of the total bank deposits. Thrift banks posted the highest growth in deposits year-on-year with 13.8 percent followed by universal and commercial banks with 9.5 percent, and rural banks with 7.5 percent.

BSP ups minimum capital of new thrift banks to P1 billion

BSP ups minimum capital of new thrift banks to P1 billion
03/01/2011 | 06:04 PM

The minimum capital of new thrift banks in Metro Manila is now P1 billion, from P500 million, making them competitive and the banking system stronger, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Tuesday.

For new thrift banks with headquarters in Cebu and Davao, the minimum capital is now P500 million, from P52 million, the central bank said in a statement.

"The new minimum capital requirement for thrift banks aims to further boost the capital base of the thrift banking system as well as enable new entrants to adequately take on the risks inherent in the increasingly sophisticated banking business and effectively compete with existing banks," the BSP said, citing its Monetary Board which approved the higher capital requirement.

In areas outside Cebu, Davao, and Metro Manila, the minimum capital requirement for thrift banks was also raised to P250 million from P52 million.

The latest rule on minimum capital requirement also applies to banks being converted into a thrift bank, as well as existing thrift banks moving their respective headquarters either to Cebu, Davao, or Metro Manila. — VS, GMA News

Manulife Philippines to Offer Microinsurance Products to Low-Income Filipino Households

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Manulife Philippines to Offer Microinsurance Products to Low-Income Filipino Households

The Philippine branch of Manulife Financial, a Canadian financial services provider, recently announced that it plans to add microinsurance to its product line-up.

Manulife will offer life and accident insurance to low-income Filipino households with distribution handled by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and is also considering selling insurance through stores and post offices. In 2010 Manulife Philippines reported that income from insurance premiums totaled PHP 4.9 billion (USD 112 million), up 40 percent from 2009.

Manulife estimates that less than 10 percent of Filipinos are covered by life insurance. Analysts at Manulife believe poor people often consider insurance unnecessary, focusing their spending primarily on basic needs. David Wong, senior vice president of Manulife, said that the solution is to offer insurance at a price that low-income individuals can afford. Mr Wong reportedly said that the company’s microinsurance business in Vietnam has been successful and expects the Philippines business to be equally profitable.

By Julie Moksim, Research Associate

About Manulife Financial: Manulife Financial is a Canadian financial services company with a network that covers twenty-two countries and territories. Manulife’s products and services include individual life insurance, group life and health insurance, pension products, annuities, mutual funds and banking products. As of 2011, the company offers microinsurance in Vietnam and is launching the offering in the Philippines. Manulife also offers asset management services to institutional customers. In Canada and Asia, the company operates under the name Manulife Financial. In the United States, it operates primarily under the John Hancock brand name.

Sources and Additional Resources:

Philippine Daily Inquirer: “Manulife Unit in PH Eyes Sale of Microinsurance Products” by Michelle Remo, February 21, 2011, http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20110222-321657/Manulife-unit-in-PH-eyes-sale-of-micro-insurance-products

MicroCapital.org Brief, February 4, 2011: Microinsurance Network Reviews 2010 Work on Performance Indicators, Technology, Standards Development, http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microinsurance-network-reviews-2010-work-on-performance-indicators-technology-standards-development/

MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe Network: Manulife Financial

http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Manulife+Financial

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/