Tan to be named permanent National Treasurer

Barring last minute hitches, Malacañang is set to appoint Finance Undersecretary Roberto Tan as the country’s permanent National Treasurer after almost two years of acting as officer-in-charge of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

Tan is set to move to the Treasury and leave his post as Finance Undersecretary for the International Finance Group, sources at the department said.

However, Tan could not be reached for comment as he is in Korea with Finance Secretary Margarito Teves for the Asia-Europe Finance Ministers Meeting.

Malacañang has yet to make an announcement on the matter.   Tan, who has extensive experience in financial markets and in international meetings, has been acting as OIC of the Treasury since former National Treasurer Omar Cruz quit his post since April 2007.

Cruz, who is now with the AIG group as chief investment officer, cited personal reasons for his resignation. Government sources, however, have said that Cruz quit his post due to policy differences with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Tan, for his part, has been with the Department of Finance (DOF) for almost 20 years. He first served as director of the International Finance group in 1988, the group in charge of the country’s financing and debt management requirements.

In April 2005, he was appointed as Undersecretary for International Finance Group (IFG).

Prior to working for the department, Tan worked as Finance and Treasury Manager for PCI Bank’s credit card subsidiary Bankard and as senior financial and marketing analyst for Newark Redevelopment and Housing Authority in New Jersey.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University. He finished his Masteral and Doctoral studies from Fordham University in New York. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Ateneo University.