The consolidation of two rural banks received the approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Both banks are in Mindanao. The merger takes place in the midst of efforts to improve the viability of rural lenders. The BSP announced the merging through Circular Letter 2016-016.
BSP lobbied for small-scale lenders to consolidate as a way of improving its financial position. Another reason for this is the intended trimming of the number of bank closures. Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr., Deputy Governor, said in the circular letter that the two banks’ consolidation was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 25, 2015.
