Philippines

The bank also bought stakes in several microfinance firms.

Regulation is stalling digitisation amongst Philippine banks.

But access to external capital markets will help maintain capitalisation profile.

A 1-ppt reduction could increase banks' earnings by ~1.5%.

Taxes on interest income could be reduced to 10%.

The bank's earnings hit a record high of USD267.5mn in the first half of 2016.

There is concern that the entry of more foreign banks will threaten local banks.

It is almost a cliché by now when banks cite Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes and controls as the biggest risk management challenge when going digital but it might be even more so in the case of the Philippines.

The government’s target of infrastructure spending is also up.

He also reveals 3 key achievements of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas under his supervision.

Pico expects more mergers and acquisitions specifically among small rural lenders.

Banks can roll out more loans for project financing.

But credit costs will rise as a result.

The goal is to expand One Network Bank’s branches by 15 this year.

But this is offset by a 25% increase in net service fees.

Banks have varying degrees of readiness.