Bank of the Philippine Islands said Thursday it was allowed to pay a smaller fine of P30 million for its failure to get regulatory confirmation for its stock purchase and option plan in 2013.
BPI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the Securities and Exchange Commission granted its request to reduce the penalty to P30 million from the previous assessment of P135 million.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission in its letter dated 08 February 2023 informed Bank of the Philippine Islands, that the commission en banc, in its meeting on 07 February 2023, granted the request of the bank to reduce the penalty to [30,000,000.00 for omitting to secure SEC’s confirmation of exemption from registration for its 2013-2019 Executive Stock Purchase Plan and Executive Stock Option Plan,” it said.
BPI remains one of the biggest banks in terms of assets. In 2022, it posted a record net income of P39.6 billion, or 66 percent higher than in 2021, driven by strong loan growth, higher net interest margin, lower provisions and a gain from a property sale in the second quarter.
This translated into a return on equity of 13.14 percent and return on assets of 1.59 percent.