By Michelle Remo
Inquirer
Last updated 03:06am (Mla time) 06/30/2006
THE state-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) will consider the proposal of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for a joint sale their shares in Equitable PCIBank, SSS president Corazon de la Paz said.
De la Paz told reporters, however, that serious talks could push through only after the SSS hurdled a pending case in the Supreme Court, in which a group of pensioners are questioning the legality of a deal the SSS had made to sell its shares in the bank to the SM group of mall magnate Henry Sy. The complainants say the agreed price was disadvantageous to SSS stakeholders.
De la Paz said that if the Supreme Court would rule in favor of the SSS, then the pension fund would entertain proposals for the sale of its shares in Equitable PCIBank, including a joint sale with the GSIS, noting a sale would increase the SSS pension fund substantially.
“If the price is right, then we will sell our shares,” De la Paz said in an interview.
The actuarial life of the SSS fund was recently estimated to be enough to last until 2031. But De la Paz said income-generating initiatives were still needed to stabilize further the health of the fund of the SSS, which provides social security for private sector employees.
The GSIS, which serves government employees, earlier said it had backed out of a plan for an immediate sale of its shares in Equitable PCIbank, saying it was better if the SSS would join in the sale.
The SSS has 29-percent share in the bank.
GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia had been trying to convince the SSS to sell its stake in Equitable PCIBank together with the GSIS to attract a higher price.
“Investors would be willing to buy if they would be getting a majority stake in the bank, but the GSIS only has 13 percent,” Garcia told reporters in a briefing.
Garcia earlier said there were three investors -- two of them foreign -- who were willing to buy shares in the bank if they get a substantial stake.
He noted a joint sale with the SSS would not be easy to pursue at the moment because of the Supreme Court case.
Garcia said the GSIS meanwhile would engage aggressively in other income-generating activities. He said it had about P250 billion worth of funds available for investment and was considering investing half in domestic instruments and half in foreign placements. With INQ7.net
http://business.inq7.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=7344
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