Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

HK Type 4 license through Ballingal Investment Advisors Ltd. 

I'm a highly experienced sell-side analyst with in excess of 22 years of covering Asia Pacific equities, the past 19 years immersed in event strategies encompassing M&A risk arbitrage, directional long/short, stub trades and restructuring.  

My background also includes accountancy (liquidation/bankruptcy/receivership) earlier in my career and as a chief financial officer of a global commodity company based in the US and Mexico.

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Matahari Dept Store, Cimory IPO, and Philippine Banks

Quiddity Advisors

Equity Bottom-Up

Metropolitan Bank & Trust / Equity Bottom-Up

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<p>On the <a href="https://www.phcc.gov.ph/press-releases/banks-mca-moa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5 November</a>, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP - the central bank of the Philippines), the Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp, and the Cooperative Development Authority signed a multi-agency agreement to streamline the merger, consolidation, and acquisition (MCA) process to encourage consolidation in the banking sector.</p>
<p>BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the agreement "<em>aims to streamline processes, reduce processing time, and facilitate prompt action of applications for mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions</em>". PCC's Arsenio Balisacan added: "<em>We acknowledge that mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions can catalyse innovation in any industry, including banking, because of combined resources and expertise". </em></p>
<p>The agreement, in effect, harmonizes the paperwork across the various regulators, by reducing the number of documentary requirements to 30 from 58, which in turn lowers the total processing time to an expected 55 business days from an average of 160 business days currently.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.phcc.gov.ph/press-releases/banks-mca-moa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PCC</a>, the "<em>Implementing Guidelines on the procedures for MCA applications will subsequently be issued via a Joint Circular by the partner-agencies</em>".</p>
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<div id="gpt-ad-Instream_Video">For years, the various regulators have aimed to consolidate the Philippines' highly fragmented banking sector comprising mostly small rural lenders. Such inefficiencies have led to nine problematic banks being shut this year, including BSP's recent order to close United People’s Rural Bank Inc.</div>
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<div>The accord was also promulgated after the BSP stopped accepting digital banking license applications from 1 September 2021, with the number of digital lenders expected to be capped at seven for the next three years.</div>
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<div>The question is: who stands to benefit from this MCA streamlining?</div>
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<div><em>For more on M&amp;A in the Philippines, please see the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-philippines-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:31122" rel="noopener">Quiddity Philippines M&amp;A Guide 2019</a>. </em></div>
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On the 5 November, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP - the central bank of the Philippines), the Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp, and the Cooperative Development Authority signed a multi-agency agreement to streamline the merger, consolidation, and acquisition (MCA) process to encourage consolidation in the banking sector.
BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the agreement "aims to streamline processes, reduce processing time, and facilitate prompt action of applications for mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions". PCC's Arsenio Balisacan added: "We acknowledge that mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions can catalyse innovation in any industry, including banking, because of combined resources and expertise". 
The agreement, in effect, harmonizes the paperwork across the various regulators, by reducing the number of documentary requirements to 30 from 58, which in turn lowers the total processing time to an expected 55 business days from an average of 160 business days currently.
According to the PCC, the "Implementing Guidelines on the procedures for MCA applications will subsequently be issued via a Joint Circular by the partner-agencies".

For years, the various regulators have aimed to consolidate the Philippines' highly fragmented banking sector comprising mostly small rural lenders. Such inefficiencies have led to nine problematic banks being shut this year, including BSP's recent order to close United People’s Rural Bank Inc.

The accord was also promulgated after the BSP stopped accepting digital banking license applications from 1 September 2021, with the number of digital lenders expected to be capped at seven for the next three years.


The question is: who stands to benefit from this MCA streamlining?




For more on M&amp;A in the Philippines, please see the Quiddity Philippines M&amp;A Guide 2019. 





Metropolitan Bank & Trust

Philippine Banks: Streamlining M&A