Citystate Savings Bank, a listed company, vowed to extend the latest in its wealth management and dollar deposit products with the recent release of its trust and foreign currency deposit unit (FCDU) licenses.

“Clients can already avail themselves of Citystate’s services in terms of holding, managing and administering their funds, securities, and properties for their benefit and advantage,” Citystate Bank president D. Alfred A. Cabangon said.

Citystate, a thrift institution, is the newest player in the multibillion FCDU and trust unit business dominated by big players with regular and expanded banking licenses.

Its entry coincided with latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reports showing FCDU depositors withdrawing their dollar time accounts and presumably investing them in higher-yielding instruments as the value of the local appreciated relative the US dollar.

The BSP said FCDU depositors fell from the September 8 level by $17 million to just $17 million to just $17.407 billion as of October 6—as account holders, mostly business entities, terminated their time-deposit accounts.

Total FCDU assets were highest at end-June this year when this hit $21.6 billion, higher than the previous high point of only $20.5 billion in 1997, according to Tetangco.

Cabangon said Citystate Bank will continue to strengthen its banking business with the introduction of its branch network.

“This new undertaking in FCDU and trust banking will complement the bank’s commitment of providing a more extensive product line to its valued clients, he said.

He reported a doubling in net income in the third quarter when its depositors grew by 14.09 percent or by P155 million.

Cabangon said the bank’s nonperforming loans at only 2.07 percent of portfolio was lower than the industry average of 8.38 percent.

Its shareholders are happy as the bank posted return on equity averaging 3.67 percent and return on assets of another 1.44 percent, he added.

Source: BUSINESS MIRROR

Return to List of News Items