Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation received another plaque of recognition from Visa, citing Chinatrust for having the Highest Transaction Count Growth in 2008 for Visa Debit Cards. Chinatrust, being a leading Visa debit and cash card issuer in the country, has received various awards from Visa since 2006. In a span of 4 years since the Bank has been affiliated by Visa, it has already issued over a million cards to its target business segments. The tie up with Visa opened possibilities for the Bank’s clients, allowing them access to their accounts through over 29 million merchants and over 1 million ATM locations worldwide. Photo shows (from left) Anthony Robles, Chinatrust Executive Vice President and Retail Banking Group Head; Mark Chen, Chinatrust President and CEO; Bob Joubert, Visa Country Manager for the Philippines; and Mennie So, Visa Senior Business Development Manager for the Philippines.

As part of its thrust to further strengthen its Corporate Banking business, Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation recently inked a P1 BLN 5-year bilateral term loan agreement with SMART Communications, Inc., the leading wireless telecommunications company in the country to finance its key infrastructure projects. Chinatrust Philippines is a subsidiary of Chinatrust Commercial Bank, the largest and most awarded private commercial bank of Taiwan. Photo shows Chinatrust Vice Chairman William Go presenting the ceremonial plaque to SMART President and CEO Napoleon Nazareno. Also in the photo (from left) are Estrella Barlis, SMART Treasury Head; Anabelle Chua, SMART Chief Financial Officer; Mark Chen, Chinatrust President and CEO; and Marty Escalona, Chinatrust Executive Vice President and Corporate Banking Group Head.

The Chairman of the Board of Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation (Chinatrust Philippines), William T.Y. Hon announced the appointment of veteran banker Mark Chen as the new President of Chinatrust Philippines effective February 1, 2009. Chen succeeds William B. Go, who continues to hold his concurrent position as Vice Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors.

“We are delighted to have Mark join us in this leadership position at this very important time for our company,” Hon said. “His energetic leadership and wide range of banking experience throughout Asia will definitely be of help in steering Chinatrust Philippines through the economic challenges of the present time.”

“I am both honored and privileged to be given this opportunity to contribute to the continuing success of CTCB’s Philippine subsidiary,” said Chen. “I have tremendous respect for the institution and my predecessors who have made its success possible.”

Prior to his appointment as President, Chen was named as the Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Operations Officer of Chinatrust Philippines. “Chinatrust has consistently excelled in the Consumer Finance business and is further strengthening its Corporate and Treasury businesses. I am eager to build upon the company’s growth as well as the innovative products Chinatrust has always provided its customers,” explained Chen.

Previous to Chinatrust Philippines, Chen was the Chief Country Officer of Chinatrust Commercial Bank in Vietnam where he initiated numerous changes in the bank’s operational and technological infrastructure. He was likewise instrumental in arranging a multi-million dollar syndicated loan facility for a state-owned corporation where Chinatrust Vietnam was the lead underwriter – an achievement which established the bank’s credentials in the country and garnered for Chinatrust Vietnam the Best Service Foreign Bank Award by Asia Money.

Before joining the Chinatrust family, Chen handled various leadership roles with ABN AMRO Taiwan, Asia Pacific Regional Center in Singapore, Bank of Asia in Thailand and ABN AMRO Shanghai.

Chen holds a B.A. in Public Finance from National Chengchi University in Taiwan, and Masters in Finance at the University of Iowa in the USA.

Chinatrust Philippines is a subsidiary of Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB), the largest and most awarded private commercial bank of Taiwan and one of the 200 biggest banks in the world in terms of capital.

Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank outstanding corporate loan portfolio as of month-end October, 2008 amounted to Php8.23 billion, some Php3.79 billion higher than the Php 4.44 billion recorded as of year-end 2007.

Chinatrust Executive Vice President and Corporate Banking Group Head Marty Escalona attributed the increase to the more aggressive stance that the bank took in terms of corporate finance. “Notwithstanding the economic crisis currently being experienced by the United States due to the collapse of its sub-prime market, the Philippine economy remains healthy and the country is considered to have one of the better investment climates in Asia,” said Mr. Escalona. “We do not see the financial crisis in the United States having a substantial impact in the local banking industry.”

Chinatrust Philippines has one of the largest branch networks among foreign banks in the country. This, coupled with the bank’s more deliberate marketing effort have resulted in the 36.38 percent growth rate in the bank’s outstanding loan portfolio as of October 2008 compared to the 16.84* percent recorded by the total banking industry as of end June 2008.

“While Chinatrust pushed through with its expansion mode, the bank continued to be prudent and selective of the markets it served,” explained Mr. Escalona. “Because of this, the bank’s non-performing loans as a percentage of its total loan portfolio went down from 6.28% percent as of year-end 2007 to 4.44% percent as of month-end September, 2008.”

This year, Chinatrust has appointed Marty Escalona as Executive Vice President and Head of its Corporate Banking Group. Escalona brings with him more than 25 years banking experience spanning from 1982 with various roles in Treasury, Corporate Banking, Corporate Finance, and Investment Banking. This role is pivotal to Chinatrust’s growth-driven strategy.

Chinatrust Philippines is a subsidiary of Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB), the largest and most awarded private commercial bank of Taiwan and one of the 200 biggest banks in the world in terms of capital.

True to being the largest and most awarded private commercial bank of Taiwan, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB) was again recognized by pre-eminent international finance magazines such as Euromoney, Asiamoney and FinanceAsia as the “Best Bank in Taiwan” in 2008. CTCB is the only bank in Taiwan who has received this recognition from these magazines for two consecutive years.

The “Best Bank in Taiwan” was awarded to CTCB for being the “smartest and most successful in building businesses that generate fee rather than interest income, particularly in wealth management, the one great cash cow left in Taiwanese banking”. In 2007, the fee income ratio at CTCB hit 42.48%, among the best in the industry; the share of the national wealth management client market has grown from 11% to 18% since 2004, according to the bank itself, with assets of more than NT$1 trillion ($33 billion) for 320,000 wealth management customers by the end of 2007. Revenue from wealth management grew 133% between 2006 and 2007. CTCB has many more strings to its bow than wealth management: it holds one-third of the country’s internet banking market, has a sophisticated risk management system, low non-performing loans at 1.66%, and powerful distribution through 145 branches. It boasts strong positions in syndicated lending and transactional banking.

These awards come in the heels of three other awards received by CTCB this year, specifically “Best Private Bank” from FinanceAsia; “Best Internet Bank/Best Investment Bank” from Global Finance; and “House of the year” from AsiaRisk, among others.

Outside Taiwan, Chinatrust has subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Its subsidiary in the Philippines - Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank has 23 branches nationwide.

Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank received two plaques of recognition from Visa, citing Chinatrust for having the Highest Retail Sales Volume Growth and Highest Transaction Count Growth in 2007 for Visa Debit Cards. Chinatrust has been affiliated with Visa since 2004, and this is the second consecutive year that the Bank received two awards from Visa. In a span of only two years, Chinatrust has issued more than 700,000 cards to its target business segments. The tie up with Visa opened up possibilities for the Bank’s clients, allowing them access to their accounts through over 1 million ATMs and make cashless purchases via more than 27 million accredited merchants worldwide. Photo shows (from left) Mennie So, Visa Senior Business Development Manager for Philippines; Bob Joubert, Visa Country Manager for Philippines; William Go, Chinatrust President; and Anthony Robles, Chinatrust Executive Vice President and Retail Banking Group Head.

Drawing mainly on the strong growth of its investment management accounts, Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation once again topped the Watson Wyatt Survey on Investment Performance.

The survey showed that in the third quarter of 2007, Chinatrust’s Trust Department ranked number one in the list of fund managers handling at least five funds in the survey for Trusteed funds managed with full discretion, and number two for all Trusteed funds. In the fourth quarter of the year, the Bank ranked number two among investment managers handling at least five funds in the survey in both categories for Trusteed funds managed with full discretion as well as for all Trusteed funds. These results reinforce the Bank’s consistency as a top performer in the Trust arena - besting even the unibanks that participated in the survey.

The citation comes at the heels of Chinatrust ending the year with an unprecedented 700% growth in its total cash resources managed by its Trust Department from PhP1.0 billion as of year-end 2006 to PhP 7.78 billion as of end 2007.

Chinatrust (Phils.) Commercial Bank Corp. was once again recognized by the Bureau of Treasury as on the 10 Best Performing Goverment Securities Eligible Dealers (GSED) in the Primary Market for the period of October, 2006 to September, 2007. The bank was given recognition for its active participation in the auction of government securities and significant market-making capabilities. Chinatrust has been recognized as one of the top 10 GSEDs since 2001. Photo shows (from left) Deputy Treasurers: Eduardo S. Mendiola, Christine L. Sanchez, Atty. Gisela F. Lood; Chinatrust Executive Vice President and Treasurer Rolando A. Avante; and Undersecretary of Finance and concurrent Acting Treasurer of the Philippines Roberto B. Tan.

Drawing mainly on the strong growth of its investment management accounts, Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation announced that the total cash resources managed by its Trust Department grew by an unprecedented 800% from Php 1.0 billion as of year-end 2006 to Php 8.0 billion as of month-end July 2007.

“The Special Deposit Account (SDA’s) of the Bangko Sentral was a big factor in this growth but we have also achieved giant strides in our traditional trust business. Instead of using our trust license to merely attract quasi-deposits, we focused on traditional trust services that are actually in great demand among institutional investors, foreign companies including Taiwanese companies, local businesses and sole proprietors. Of course, when the SDA product was made available to trust institutions, we immediately mobilized our distribution network to capture a good share of this business. Some four hundred (400) customers bought this product. Among them were several hundred new customers who had transferred to us from other banks” said Chinatrust president Joey A. Bermudez. “We were able to substantially increase the level of our trust assets without suffering any attrition in our traditional deposits which likewise grew to Php 18.2 billion as of month-end July from the Php 16.2 billion it recorded in the same period last year.”

“What was even more significant for Chinatrust was that the increase in its Trust cash assets was achieved with a parallel leap in its non-cash assets which grew by 108% from Php 2.5 billion to Php 5.2 billion for the same comparative period.”

Chinatrust’s Trust Department was ranked by Watson Wyatt Survey as one of the top industry performers in investment performance. In the first quarter of 2006, Chinatrust was ranked as No. 1 among fund managers handling less than five funds, or No. 3 overall to include fund managers handling more than five funds - besting even the unibanks that participated in the survey.

Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation expands its Retail Mortgage Loan Portfolio to P2,132 billion as of month end June, 2008. This is some P673 million higher than the P1,459 billion recorded for the same period the previous year, or an increase of some forty six percent year on year.

“The increase in Chinatrust’s retail mortgage loan portfolio can be attributed not only from the competitive rates that the bank offers to consumers, but also to the innovative features of the loan products,” explained Chinatrust Retail Banking Head Anthony T. Robles. “We wanted to offer a product with a clear differentiator and our Cashback Mortgage loan product is a perfect example as it is the only one of its kind in the domestic banking industry.”

Consumers who avail of a mortgage loan under the Cashback Mortgage arrangement can substantially cut their interest expenses as they maintain either savings or current accounts with Chinatrust. Under this arrangement, the amount placed under deposit is deducted from the aggregate loan amount when determining the interest rate to be charged on the loan. As such, the effective interest rate on housing or business loans can be reduced to as low as 3.5 percent per annum.

The product has been popular with high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs who maintain large balances in their working accounts. Instead of unbundling their deposit and loan relationships by seeking the best provider for each product, borrowers can consolidate these otherwise disparate relationships into one bank and achieve substantial savings in the process.

Chinatrust Philippines is a subsidiary of Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB), the largest and most awarded private commercial bank of Taiwan and one of the 200 biggest banks in the world in terms of capital.

As part of its aim to bring in-depth and credible economic perspective to its clients, Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation recently hosted an Economic Briefing entitled 'Quo Vadis, Philippines?' with Ms. Solita Collas-Monsod as Resource Speaker (inset). Photo shows Chinatrust clients listening to the speaker as she shared her thoughts on the Philippine economy and its prospects. The speaker is a well-respected economist, professor, broadcaster, and writer.