Angara urges passage of bill on personal retirement account.
Byline: Mario B. Casaruyan Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the Senate banks and financial institutions, urged yesterday his colleagues in the 24-member Senate to pass his Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) bill to create a more dependable and stable pension that would ensure financial security...

BSP okays 2nd phase of forex liberalization; To temper peso appreciation.
Byline: LEE C. CHIPONGIAN The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday raised the foreign exchange (FX) limits on dollar purchases from residents and the outward investments to $ 30,000 without documentation. This is the second phase of FX liberalization approved this year, which central bank...

BSP approves new rules on UITF.
The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved new rules requiring banks to disclose more information on unit investment trust funds (UITFs) to protect investors. The BSP on December 28, the last Monetary Board meeting for 2007, approved amendments to the BSP Manual...

P/$ rate stands at P43.675/$ 1.
The peso exchange rate closed at P43.675 to the US dollar last Wednesday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., (PDEx). The weighted average rate stands at P43.73. Financial markets are closed Thursday and Friday for All Saints' Day. Trading will resume Monday, Nov. 5. NTT DoCoMo...

P/$ rate at P46.70/$1.
The peso exchange rate closed at P46.70 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., (PDEx). The weighted average rate stands at P46.765. The financial markets were closed yesterday, a holiday to mark National Heroes Day. BSP imposes SBL on UITFs ...

Plantersbank sees renewed SME borrowings.
Byline: FIL C. SIONIL Amidst the continued lethargic lending performance of the banking industry in the first semester of 2006, Planters Development Bank (Plantersbank) remains positive it will attain its loan portfolio programmed at P2.5 billion. Plantersbank President and Chief Operating Officer Ma. Flordelis F....

BIR to inspect books of big banks on unit investment trust funds (UITF) for tax liabilities.
Byline: LEE C. CHIPONGIAN The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will inspect the books of banks with huge unit investment trust funds or UITF transactions, including two big banks. BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Bunag said his agents have started to "look into the books of...

Investors see volatile trading.
Byline: EDU H. LOPEZ Investors are cautious and awaiting positive news as the equities remain volatile following last week's rebound after several days of correction. The composite index closed 71 points higher as the market bottomed out ahead of the 2,200-point support, says BPI Securities....

PERA bill gains progress in Senate.
Byline: JAMES A. LOYOLA Related legislative bills which aim to create the Personal Equity and Retirement account have been consolidated into a substitute bill which is ready for sponsorship and plenary deliberations and debate in the Senate. The PERA bills, envisioned to help ordinary Filipinos...

IMF sees UITF fiasco spiking liquidity, inflation.
Byline: LEE C. CHIPONGIAN The International Monetary Fund said the liquidity created by the massive sell-offs of the reserved-free unit investment trust funds (UITFs) in the last months of 2005 into the first quarter of 2006 is a possible risk to the country's inflation position. ...