Financial Services

While the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) had originally aimed to add 10 initial public offerings (IPOs) over the course of 2016, by year’s end just four had been issued, valued at a combined P49.37bn ($1.04bn) including follow-ons and secondary offerings. Although the IPO market was fairly subdued overall, with many of the sales priced lower...

In recent years the Philippine capital markets have performed well. The benchmark index has quadrupled since the global financial crisis in 2008 on a combination of good policy, strong economic growth, healthy inflows of foreign investment and low international interest rates. In 2016, however, market performance was mixed as the country held...

The heist was audacious, complex and surprisingly successful. In early 2016 an attempt was made to steal almost $1bn of Bangladesh central bank money held at the US Federal Reserve via a Philippine bank, a Philippine remittance company and Philippine casinos. The theft, in which $81m was taken from the account, has significant implications...

The Philippines has undertaken a wide range of banking reforms in recent decades, and the efforts have contributed to making the sector sound, stable and resilient. The one lingering issue has been foreign participation. For years the authorities offered only conditional access. In 2014 the doors were finally opened.