MONETARY BOARD MAKES IT EASY FOR AUDITORS TO CHECK ON BANKS.  The policy-making Monetary Board (MB) has fine-tuned the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ crucial regulation on financial reporting that will give external auditors more leeway to complete their audit work on Philippine banks.  The MB last Thursday approved an amendment to the manual of banking regulations to allow banks to submit their financial audit report within 120 days after each calendar year.  Inquirer, pB9

EVOLUTION OF PINOY PIGGY BANKS. How did the concept of the “piggy bank” evolve into the culture of Pinoys? Saving, for Filipinos, started even in the old times. It is a heritage passed on by our ancestors further developed by the blend of Hispanic and other Asian cultures that inhabited the country. The Filipinos are naturally “matipid,” so to speak. There is an inherent Filipino characteristic of thrift, that even in the midst of scarcity, a small amount of savings is a significant investment for the future. PDI pB2-3

EIIB TO CAPITALIZE ON ISLAMIC FINANCE. Britain’s first Islamic investment bank, European Islamic Investment Bank (EIIB), is seeking to position itself for what it hopes will be the growth in sharia-compliant products from a small niche market to a global industry. The volume of sharia-compliant assets has grown rapidly due to a flood of liquidity in the Gulf Arab region from high oil prices, because more petrodollars have remained in the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and because of a growing sense of identity among Muslims. BWorld pS2/3

PSBANK TO PAY 20% REGULAR, SPECIAL CASH DIVIDENDS BY JULY 25. Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the country’s second largest savings bank, has announced that it will pay shareholders regular and special cash dividends equivalent to 20% not later than July 25. “PSBank has a very good first-quarter financial performance. The bank registered a P356.6-million net profit for the first quarter of 2006, a 246% increase from P102.94 million during the same period last year. It’s a result of continuing good returns from loan products and higher income from investment securities,” said PSBank First Vice-President and chief financial officer Perfecto Z. Dimayuga. BWorld pS2/8

BAD LOANS RATIO DIPS TO 7.36% IN MAY. The bad loan ratio of Philippine commercial banks fell to 7.36 percent at the end of May from 8.08 percent a month earlier and 10.95 percent in the same month of 2005, the central bank said on Friday. The industry’s non-performing assets (NPA) ratio – which includes non-performing loans, property and other assets – fell to 7.97 percent in May from 8.56 percent in April and 9.86 percent a year earlier, the central bank said. Malaya pB14

BSP URGED TO PAY BANCO FILIPINO. The BSP cannot and should not run from its liabilities rising from the closure of Banco Filipino ordered in 1985 by then Central Bank of the Philippines, Senate Majority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said yesterday. Pimentel said that as “successor-in-interest” to the defunct central bank, the BSP had to shoulder CB’s liabilities and thus pay or settle Banco Filipino’s P18.8 billion damage claim. MStandard-Today pB3

BANKS’ OFW BIZ GAINING. The number of overseas Filipino workers still patronizing so-called informal remittance channels has diminished considerably and accounted for only an estimated 10 percent of volume flow of around $11.5 billion this year. This means no more than $1.15 billion evaded capture and monitoring by the banks, the BSP said on Friday. BMirror p1

BANKS GIVEN 120-DAY LEEWAY TO SUBMIT AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORT. The BSP policy-making body the Monetary Board has approved a “re-wording” of the old regulation in the submission of banks’ financial audited report, which is now within 120 days from the end of the calendar or fiscal year. Before, banks are required to commence audit within 30 days from the end of the calendar year. And within 90 days, the financial audit report should be forwarded to the central bank for submission. Now, the BSP require banks, especially larger banks, to begin audit before the calendar year ends, which means as early as September. MBulletin pB-1 (rel PStar pB9)

BANK OFFERS 5% INTEREST. Recently launched GE Money Bank announced a checking account that offers a 5-percent interest rate for three months. The Flex Checking Account offers this high rate for consumers who open from June 20 to Sept. 30, 2006, and maintain a P50,000 average daily balance (ADB) for three months. The account also provides consumers with the convenience of access to funds via ATM and checkbook. PDI pB2-3

FINANCE TAPS NBI IN CORRUPTION DRIVE. LIFESTYLE CHECK ON ERRING CUSTOMS, BIR EMPLOYEES. The Department of Finance will tap the assistance of the NBI in conducting lifestyle checks against suspected corrupt officials and employees of revenue-collecting agencies. Finance Undersecretary Gaudencio Mendoza Jr. told reporters that the Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), the unit in the DOF tasked with combating corruption, has started exploratory talks with the NBI on how the latter’s services could be used in cracking down on erring revenue personnel. PDI pB1

PRESIDENT’S SONA TO ARREST FALL OF PESO. The peso is expected to weaken towards the $1:P53 level this week amid geopolitical risks spurred by tensions in the Middle East. But the fall will be capped ahead of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), dealers said. The peso closed at a week low of P52.39 last Friday, when US crude oil futures hit a record high above $78 per barrel, rallying for a fourth-straight session due to renewed concerns over Nigeria’s supply and an escalation of violence in the Middle East. BWorld pS2/1

CENTRAL BANKER BRUSHES ASIDE YUAN TUNE-UP. A senior Chinese central banker on Friday brushed aside market talk of another administered adjustment to the yuan’s exchange rate on the first anniversary of the currency’s 2.1% revaluation against the dollar. Tang Xu, head of the central bank’s research bureau, said the speculation made no sense because the yuan’s rate had been determined by market forces of supply and demand since it was depegged from the dollar on July 21, 2005. BWorld pS2/1

SC LIKENS BANK TO SHYLOCK (Cocktales by Victor C. Agustin). For the second time in as many years, the Supreme Court has taken to task Banco Filipino for charging “unconscionable” interest rates on its borrowers. The SC First Division, chaired by Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, noted that the savings bank had charged more than 60-percent interest a year on a 1979 loan that was supposed to carry an interest rate of no more than 21 percent. PStar pB5

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