Chamber of thrift banks gears up for expansion due to ASEAN integration

MANILA - The Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB), the umbrella organization of the country's 71 thrift banks, gears up for the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Integration by preparing its members for bigger opportunities to expand into new markets, its president said in a news release.

“We want our members to improve their services to our micro, small, and medium enterprise clients as we prepare for a free-market implementation once the integration starts,” said CTB president Jose Teodoro Limcaoco.

“CTB will familiarize SMEs on the integration, what industries will be opened in 2015 and 2016 and make them competitive in the open, integrated economy. To be more competitive, they might need to put up more CAPEX, invest more on infrastructure, or increase manpower,” he added.

The ASEAN Integration comes at an opportune time for local thrift banks, CTB said, as confidence in the industry remained high in the past year, with deposit liabilities growing by 19.3 percent year-on-year to reach P623.431 billion as of December 2013.

CTB First Vice President Rommel Latinazo projects that thrift banks expect the same kind of performance for 2014, when total loans grew by 14 percent.

“We are diverse in terms of focus, some of us are into consumers, (as) the independent thrifts tend to be more of the SME type of clientele. Both these sectors have continued demand for financing and that would be the outlet for the thrift bank industry,” Latizano said.

‘Trickle-down’ from multinationals
“What’s significant to us is that a lot of the loan growth in 2013 came from multinational and top corporates and we believe that there’s eventually a trickle-down effect to the SME sector because the SMEs provide a lot of the products and a lot of the services to these top corporates. The top corporates raised their loan levels in 2013 to expand and you should see the same expansion going forward to the SMEs. That’s why we’re very positive about the prospects for SME lending in 2014 and forward,” Limcaoco said.

In a move to further boost the thrift bank sector, CTB will mount a national convention on March 19, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City.

“The upcoming national convention will help thrift banks prepare for the challenge of market expansion, as well as our MSME market, who stand to be affected by the changes brought about by ASEAN integration,” said Convention Chair Alberto Emilio Ramos.

"The CTB is one with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in its effort to achieve a strong financial system. We support policies and programs of the BSP that address the concerns and challenges surrounding the industry," Limcaoco  added.

Speakers at the national convention will be led by BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. on “Economic Prospects and the State of the Thrift Banking Industry,” BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr. on "ASEAN Banking Integration Framework," Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano on the “Political Thrust of the Senate on the ASEAN integration,” Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, on "How the ASEAN Integration may affect the MSME sector" and "Proposed Amendments to the MSME Law," and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba on "General Overview of the impending ASEAN Integration."

source:  InterAksyon