NEW rules have been written regarding the sale, transfer or acquisition of the voting stocks of banks operating in the country at present.
While before it was enough that regulators were informed whenever such sale, transfer or acquisition resulted to substantial ownership of the voting stocks, new rules now require more detailed reporting of the transaction.
The insistence on detailed disclosure comes in the wake of changes in the ownership of some banks that later prove problematic, such as that involving the now defunct Legacy Group of Bank where insured deposit payouts totaled some P12 billion.
New regulations now require both the buyers and sellers of bank voting stocks to report the transaction to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) so that the policy-making monetary board may act on it as appropriate.
The request should be submitted within 60 days from the transaction date or 30 days from date of receipt by the bank’s corporate secretary for registration of the transaction, whichever is earlier, the BSP said.
“It should be accompanied by supporting documents on the suitability of the transferee-stockholder, including evidences on the integrity, probity, financial capacity, business experience and educational background, among others, of the individual stockholders or of the persons behind the corporate stockholders.
“It should be accompanied by an affidavit attesting that the stockholder is a bona fide owner of the voting shares of stocks in the bank in his/its right, and not as a dummy of any other person, whether natural or juridical,” the BSP said.
Bank corporate secretaries are henceforth prohibited from registering the voting shares in the name of anyone without prior monetary board approval.
Delays in reporting such changes could result in the recission or even invalidation of such transactions, the BSP said.
The new rules apply both to issued and unissued voting shares of stocks as in the case of subscription to new shares or conversion of preferred shares or debt instruments into voting shares, the BSP said.
