The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the incorporation of China Bank Capital Corp., the investment banking subsidiary of China Banking Corp.
China Bank Vice President and Corporate Secretary Corazon Morando said the bank obtained the SEC’s approval to operate China Bank Capital as an investment house on November 27, 2015.
The investment house will provide capital raising, merger and acquisition, financial restructuring, debt and securities underwriting and economic advisory services to all types of public and private companies.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved China Bank’s P500-million investment in China Bank Capital in May this year.
In the last two years, the China Bank Investment Banking Group has become a preferred partner of issuers.
China Bank was sole issue manager, joint lead arranger/lead manager/lead underwriter in a number of landmark deals which include the $141-million Philippine Airlines and the $140-million Cebu Pacific term loans in 2013; the P20-billion SM Prime and P15-billion Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. retail bonds in 2014; and the P24-billion Aboitiz Equity Ventures fixed rate bonds this year.
With the new investment house subsidiary, the China Bank’s Investment Banking Group will be a part of China Bank Capital.
China Bank Capital will be headed by its newly appointed president Romeo D. Uyan Jr.
Uyan is concurrently the executive vice president and special projects officer at China Bank, tasked to lead the development and implementation of projects and strategic initiatives.
China Bank President and CEO Ricardo R. Chua said Uyan’s extensive international experience and investment banking expertise is key to the success of China Bank Capital and strengthening China Bank’s presence in the capital markets space.
Uyan is an investment banker with over two decades of experience in wealthmanagement, trading, research and financial structuring in the Asia-Pacific region. He has been working for most of his career in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan in top multinational investment houses, including UBS, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse First Boston and ING Barings Securities.
“We are very happy to have a man of Mr. Uyan’s caliber and experience as we build on China Bank’s competitive advantages, foremost of which is a highly professional management team,” Chua said.
Meanwhile, the board has approved the reorganization of the Trust Investment Committee to include First Vice President II Patrick D. Cheng, as the new member effective December 16, 2015, in lieu of Senior Vice President Rene J. Sarmiento’s retirement effective December 31, 2015.