NEWS IN BRIEF; P/$ rate closed at P53.17 to $1.
The peso rate closed at P53.17 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. The weighted average rate stands at P53.198. ASAP upgrades index target The Association of Securities Analysts of the Philippines upgraded its...

Law vests UITF regulation in BSP.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the central bank is the assigned regulator of trust funds such as the controversial unit investment trust funds or UITFs. There are talks of possibly transferring authority of UITFs to the Securities and Exchange Commission. However Tetangco...

Security Bank launches 2 funds.
Security Bank Corporation (SBC) has launched SB Secure Peso Fund and the SB Secure Dollar Fund to provide individuals and corporate investors alternative investment outlets which can achieve sustained income growth over a period of time. Wilfredo S. Talastas, first vice president and Trust Head, said these...

BIR to go after UITF tax liabilities of banks.
Byline: LEE C. CHIPONGIAN The Bureau of Internal Revenue will go after banks' trust departments with unit investment trust funds or UITF transactions. BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Bunag said they would monitor banks' UITF transactions, which have amounted to P300 billion as of May. "We're...

BUSINESS FOCUS; Contributing to the growth of the trust industry.
Byline: RAFAEL G. AYUSTE, JR. With the introduction of the Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) during the second quarter of last year, the trust banking business has been gaining public interest with respect to the return performance of these funds. These returns have not been seen in...

Citystate Savings eyes FCDU, UITF licences.
Byline: FIL C. SIONIL Citystate Savings Bank, an institution owned and controlled by Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua, will seek FCDU (foreign currency deposit unit) and UITF (unit investment trust fund) licenses from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to expand its services. Citystate President Alfred Cabangon...

NEWS IN BRIEF; P/$ rate closes at P51.48 to $1.
The rate closed higher at P51.48 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines from P51.73 the previous day. The weighted average rate appreciated to P51.499 from P51.856. Total volume amounted to $537.5 million. Forex declaration expanded ...

Unit investment trust funds make CTFs less attractive; As BSP implements new regulations.
Byline: FIL C. SIONIL Public investments through the common trust funds (CTFs) will soon cease to be as attractive as they are now with the implementation by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) of sets of rules and regulations governing unit investment trust funds (UITF). ...

BSP to raise reserve requirements on CTFs; To put them at par with bank deposits.
Byline: LEE C. CHIPONGIAN The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will start raising the reserve requirements on common trust funds to make them unattractive to investors and encourage the shift to new unit investment trust funds. "Reserves will be raised to put CTFs at par with...

BSP extends deadline for CTF placements to Dec.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is extending the deadline for the placements of new common trust funds or CTFs for another three months or until December 31, 2004. The Monetary Board, BSPs policy-making arm imposed the status quo to give banks time to shift from CTFs to...