050107: BPI to spend P2B for new UK branch

London's Financial Services Unit gives RP bank the go-ahead

By Dennis D. Estopace

Reporter

BANK of the Philippine Islands, a publicly-listed bank majority-owned by the Ayala family, would be spending £2 million, or about P2 billion, for a new branch it will open in London, United Kingdom. "We want more presence in Europe, so rather than just open a remittance center, we think a bank would be able to give more services to Filipinos there," Ed Drilejo told BusinessMirror on Monday. Drilejo was appointed chief executive officer and managing director of Bank of the Philippine Islands (Europe) Plc. The unit was recently given the go ahead by Financial Services Authority (FSA) in London to open the BPI's wholly-owned subsidiary. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the bank said that it received official FSA approval on April 26. Drilejo said that BPI's investment would finance equity, start up operations and reserves. A soft opening is scheduled this July and a formal launch is likely in September. Drilejo spoke to BusinessMirror a week before he flies off to lead BPI's first overseas branch in Europe. When asked why not in the United States, Drilejo said: "It's a question of timing." He explained that based on a BPI study, opening a branch in London would cater most to Filipinos that have plans of returning home rather than focusing on a market in the United States, where most are already immigrants or American citizens. We could offer Filipinos in London other products like homes or condominium units in the Philippines so that when they return, they would have assets, Drilejo added. Drilejo also explained that they decided on UK because of the language. BPI would follow Philippine National Bank and Allied Bank in opening branches in the UK, which according to 2005 government estimates, hosts some 52,977 immigrant Filipinos, 72,638 contract workers and 7,480 undocumented Filipinos. Drilejo said the plan to open a branch in London was crafted and put to work a year ago. "It would also take us about such amount of time if we open up another branch in another country in Europe," he added when asked if BPI is eyeing other countries near UK or within the European Union.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/05012007/companies01.html