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MSt Chatter — Caktiong receives Rolex watch gift

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It was only supposed to be special stockholders’ meeting to approve a  senior management stock option and incentive plan aimed at rewarding hardworking and dedicated employees of fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp.

However, it was Jollibee chairman Tony Tan Caktiong who received a unexpected gift from a of longtime board director of the company—retired Supreme Court chief justice Artemio Panganiban.

Panganiban, before giving the gift, explained that the Jollibee chairman should be acclaimed for the successful Apec CEO Summit 2015 which Tan Caktiong headed.

At the same time, Panganiban expressed gratitude to Tan Caktiong for inviting him to attend the prestigious Apec CEO Summit, where world leaders like US President Barack Obama spoke.

So what was the gift? Panganiban and his wife gave Tan Caktiong the latest model of Rolex watch. Jenniffer B. Austria

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SEC ignores deadline

The Securities and Exchange Commission did not succumb to pressures, even when it was given a Nov. 27 deadline to approve the merger of Philippine Stock Exchange and Philippine Dealing Systems Holdings Corp.

“Who has a deadline? We don’t have a deadline,” a top official of the SEC said, when asked about the Nov. 27 deadline for the PSE to close the acquisition of a majority stake in PDS, which operates the fixed-income market.  SEC needs to approve the transaction first.

The SEC official was apparently irked by strong pressures on the corporate regulator, which was asked to approve PSE’s acquisition of majority interest in PDS Holdings before Nov. 27. Even if the deadline lapsed, PSE could obviously seek an extension for the closing of the transaction.

To date, PSE signed share purchase agreements with four shareholders of PDS Holdings, including the Bankers Association of the Philippines, the Finex Research and Development Foundation Inc., Whistler Technology Services Inc. and Insular Investment Corp. 

The four shareholders have a combined ownership in PDS of 40.06 percent, on top of PSE’s existing stake of 20.98 percent.

Aside from seeking for an extension for the transaction, PSE also considers the possibility of putting up its own depository, if the planned buyout of PDS Holdings fails to get regulatory approval.

The transaction aims to consolidate the equities and fixed-income exchanges.  It will also allow PSE to own Philippine Depository and Trust Corp. which serves as the depository for equities and fixed-income securities. In 2013, the SEC granted the Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines, a fully-owned subsidiary of PSE, a provisional license to operate a securities depository. Jenniffer B. Austria

Financial firms swapping CEOs

Several financial companies are losing top officials and recruiting new ones, amid intensifying competition in the banking and insurance sectors.

It started when  Mayo Jose Ongsingco retired as president and chief operating officer of The Insular Life Assurance Co., the largest Filipino-owned life insurance company, in May 2015. He was replaced by Mona Lisa de la Cruz at Insular Life.

Recently, First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, announced the appointment of Ongsingco as its new adviser to the board of directors.

In October, First Metro announced the retirement of Roberto Juanchito Dispo as president and chief executive. He will be replaced by Rabboni Francis Arjonillo, the former head of treasury and investment banking division of Land Bank of the Philippines effective Jan. 1, 2016.

Meanwhile, Philippine Bank of Communications former president and chief executive Nina Aguas was named the new chief executive of Insular Life, while Union Bank of the Philippines president and chief operating officer Victor Valdepeñas was appointed the new chairman of Insular Life, in place of Vicente Ayllón who is retiring in January 2016.  

Aguas was replaced by Henry Uy and later by Patricia May Siy as the president and chief executive of PBCom.  There is no word yet on who will replace Valdepeñas at Union Bank, but the Aboitiz-led lender recently named Citi Philippines treasury head John Cary Ong as transaction banking center head with the rank of senior vice president, effective Jan. 10, 2016. Jose Ortiz remains the chairman and chief executive of Union Bank. Roderick T. dela Cruz

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