The government has appointed a privatization committee to dispose assets in Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank (formerly Philippine Islamic Bank) and to hire a financial adviser by April 7.
The committee published last February 24 notices for any interested financial advisers to undertake the bank’s asset sale in an "as-is" basis. The bank is burdened with liabilities amounting to P500 million.
Finance Undersecretary Gabriel Singson Jr. said the deadline for the selection of the financial adviser is second week of April. "(The FA) will make a recommendation on how best to sell the assets," he said.
Singson said the privatization committee was formed recently to "push for the immediate sale and implement a timetable. "The process would be to hire an FA and then they will evaluate then privatize … they will go out and seek out investors." Hopefully, the asset sale will be conducted in the second quarter.
The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. with Land Bank of the Philippines earlier was tapped to rehabilitate the problematic Islamic Bank, recover soured assets and raise capital to finance its rescue.
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