The Department of Finance (DOF) said the launch of the Overseas Filipinos Bank (OFB) on Thursday was in fulfillment of a campaign promise of President Duterte to the Filipinos.
According to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, the OFB launch made possible by the combined efforts of the DOF and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), was separate from another campaign promise that pertained to the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) into law.
“We are just fulfilling his [President Duterte’s] campaign promise one by one. First, the tax reform then this new bank,” Dominguez said. He added all obstacles to the opening of the bank that caters to the needs of all overseas-based Filipinos have been removed following last week’s approval by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) of the acquisition by the LandBank of the Postal Savings Bank (Postalbank).
The PCC approval on January 11 for LandBank to acquire PostalBank followed the Monetary Board’s go signal the
previous December.
Apart from fulfilling a campaign promise, the conversion of PostalBank into the OFB also saved the lender from bankruptcy, Dominguez said.
Both the DOF and LandBank also plan to secure a license in countries with large concentrations of overseas Filipinos so that the OFB can provide financial advisory services to the Filipino communities in those areas.
A key feature of the OFB is the provision of remittance service for OFWs and a loan program for Filipinos returning to the Philippines to start businesses or build their homes, according
to the DOF.
The LandBank and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) are also exploring ways of mobilizing the savings of overseas-based Filipinos for investment in the local capital markets, according to Dominguez.
Last year the President issued Executive Order 44 ordering the Philippine Postal Corp. and the BTr to transfer their PostalBank shares to LandBank at zero value.