BIZ BUZZ: BSP summons PNB brass

How long can a “domestic systemically important bank” remain in suspended animation without a permanent CEO, key officials and additional resources needed to put its finances on firmer footing?

That’s apparently what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) wants to know after it summoned the owners and key officials of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) for a crucial meeting next week.

In particular, the country’s banking regulators want some clarity from the family of billionaire Lucio Tan if the bank is making progress in finding a new president almost a year after its last CEO, banker Wick Veloso, was appointed by President Marcos to head the Government Service Insurance System.

Biz Buzz has been hearing sporadic reports of recruitment attempts by the Tan family aimed at potential bank CEOs who will take PNB’s challenging helm with zero success so far, we’re told.

“No one wants to accept the job of being PNB president after everyone saw how badly the previous CEO was treated,” said one source, referring to Veloso who was, at one point, supposedly being actively undermined by one of the family factions.

The recruitment process has also been made more challenging by the way other CEOs of other Lucio Tan Group firms have been dismissed in the recent past, including former Philippine Airlines president Gilbert Santa Ana, who was unceremoniously shown the door as soon as he had completed a highly contentious and delicate restructuring plan for Tan’s flag carrier in 2021.

In any case, the BSP wants to know what the Tan family intends to do to solve this PNB conundrum because leadership is a key element needed for extricating any financial institution out of a challenging situation.

Biz Buzz reached out to several ranking PNB people and the emerging consensus is that the current officer in charge, Florido “Doy” Casuela, will probably be appointed permanent president during the bank’s annual stockholders’ meeting in a few weeks (unless the recruitment process miraculously takes a turn for the better in that time). Casuela is a seasoned banker but is also 80 years old.

There are a few other issues that the worried BSP brass want to discuss with PNB’s owners, we’re told, and we’ll tell you about them tomorrow. Abangan!

—Daxim L. Lucas

Tanduay at the NBA playoffs

Devoted fans of the Golden State Warriors were not the only ones cheering the return of the defending champions to the playoffs of the National Basketball Association.

Tanduay is, too, as the extension of the Warriors’ NBA season means more time and opportunity for basketball and nonbasketball fans alike to become more familiar with the world’s best-selling rum brand that is proudly made in the Philippines.

Tanduay, after all, is the first and so far the only Filipino company to sponsor the Golden State Warriors and the productive relationship has been going strong since 2017.

Tanduay is the title sponsor of the team’s Tanduay Rum Club inside the Chase Center (and also the Warriors’ former Oracle Arena home) where specialty cocktails are sold featuring best-selling Tanduay products geared toward the international market.

Sponsoring the Golden State Warriors was one of the last major marketing moves taken by the late Lucio Tan Jr. when he was president of Tanduay Distillers Inc.

His son and successor Lucio Tan III built on his father’s gains and expanded Tanduay’s partnerships to five NBA teams and counting.

Aside from the Golden State Warriors, Tanduay is also behind the Brooklyn Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns.

With the NBA partnerships as a jumpoff point, Tan III said Tanduay was “looking forward to bringing our Philippine-made products to more cities in the United States.”

—TINA ARCEO-DUMLAO

Settling refund claims

When the world was at a standstill in 2020 due to COVID-19, border restrictions were up and aircraft were grounded because of flight cancellations. This, unfortunately, led to a great deal of refund claims from the passengers who were no longer allowed to board their flights at the time.

Airlines have been giving back the money they owe customers since then, including AirAsia.

The budget carrier said that, as of February, it has paid off 98.4 percent of the refund claims since March 2020. The payments amounted to $2.1 billion.

“Efforts to settle the remaining balances are ongoing as the airline strives to rebuild its operations back to normalcy,” the airline said.

AirAsia has been restoring domestic and international routes to take advantage of the resurgence of air travel following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad INQ

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