Parent lender China Banking Corp. (China Bank) has approved the P2-billion capital infusion into China Bank Savings Inc. (CBSI), bringing the combined total capital of CBSI and Planters Development Bank (PDB) to P6.1 billion.
China Bank Senior Vice President Alexander Escucha said additional capital was needed to obtain the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s final approval on the merger of CBSI and PDB.
“The capital infusion will be done upon receipt from the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] of its approval of the merger of CBSI and PDB and increase in CBSI authorized capital,” Escucha said.
The China Bank Executive Committee approved of the bank’s P2-billion capital infusion on Wednesday which was designed to support the future business growth of CBSI and PDB next year.
Escucha said the thrift bank will continue to expand its lending activities to the small and medium enterprise (SME) sectors.
China Bank President and CEO Ricardo Chua said the integration should persist between now and until the first half next year.
China Bank received the Monetary Board (MB) approval of the CBSI-PDB merger and the bancassurance license of CBSI on August 14.
In a related event, China Bank opened 10 branches in Metro Manila on December 10 in E-Rodriguez-Acropolis, E-Rodriguez-Cordillera, Culiat-Tandang Sora, Damar Village, South Triangle, and Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City; China Bank Salcedo Village-LP Leviste, Legaspi Village-Amorsolo, and San Antonio Village-P. Ocampo branches in Makati City and San Juan-J. Abad Santos Branch in San Juan.
China Bank has a branch network of 342.
China Bank is looking to open the final 10 branches on December 22, to bring its year-end branch network to 352 nationwide. Including the 165 branches of subsidiaries CBSI and PDB, the China Bank Group will have a
total of 507 branches nationwide by year-end.