Yuchengco raps PSE’s Arroyo on ‘hasty appointment’ of president

The ongoing controversy at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) continues to heat up as its chairman Alicia Arroyo got the ire of several PSE directors led by Vivian Yuchengco over the alleged arbitrary appointment of the selections committee that will nominate the potential candidates to fill in the post of PSE president.

Yuchengco, along with PSE directors Francisco Villaroman and Ismael Cruz, have written Arroyo a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, denouncing her designation of a nominations committee which she and outgoing PSE president Cayetano Paderanga are part of.

The Yuchengco group also objected to the June 15 deadline on the submission by the selections committee of its list of nominees for the PSE presidency. The directive was issued by Arroyo only last Friday, June 11.

"We absolutely disagree in choosing the next president in such a capricious manner as is shown in giving us four days to search for nominations (two of which are Saturday and Sunday)," the group said in its letter.

Yuchengco said she was surprised with Arroyo’s inclusion of Paderanga and herself in the selections committee and the hasty move to appoint a new president when the nominations guidelines have yet to be threshed out by the board.

"Why is she in a rush to appoint a president? We do not want to make the same mistakes again. Why is she closing the nominations that soon? I think that something’s wrong with her. She hardly listens to the majority. Who is she to do that? She doesn’t own the PSE," Yuchengco told The STAR.

In raising its opposition, the Yuchengco group invoked the directors‚ rulebook and code of conduct general rules paragraph 3 which states that a director should bring all matters of the board concern to the attention of the chair, for possible inclusion in the board’s agenda.

The group said the same rulebook states that the secretary shall see to the scheduling of topics and business to be incorporated in the agenda of meetings of the board.

The Yuchengco group also requested that the first order of business in the agenda for the scheduled meeting today is to define the rules for the nomination of candidates and selection of the next president, the membership of the committee, its duties, authorities and limits (unless the committee is itself a committee of the whole board), and the criteria for short-listing.

The group also asked the nullification of any prior decision related to the resignation of Paderanga that is inconsistent or contradictory to the amended resolution and if appropriate, to appoint an interim officer-in-charge of the exchange management.

The group said "all and any action in selecting a new president should be stopped until all issues are fully resolved by the whole board rather than merely the chairman."

Arroyo first figured in a controversy with Yuchengco after the board sold 40 percent of its shares to private financial institutions. The transaction was widely criticized by the Yuchengco group, pointing out that it was done in undue haste and was disadvantageous to the exchange since the shares were sold at a very "low" price.

Meanwhile, Paderanga’s resignation takes effect until a new president is named by the board. He quit after being cited for conflict of interest because of his continued employment in the state-owned PNOC Development & Management Corp. (PDMC) and CIBI Information Inc.

Paderanga is currently president and chief executive of PDMC, a sister company of publicly-listed PNOC Exploration Co., and president of CIBI, a credit information bureau that collates business information for the private sector and publishes the top 5,000 firms with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the Securities Regulation Code, the PSE president should not be a member and not associated in any capacity, directly or indirectly, with any broker, dealer or member, or listed company of the bourse.