US bank to close representative office in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — US-based Bank of New York Mellon is shutting down its representative office in the Philippines, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

BSP assistant governor Lyn Javier said the central bank’s Monetary Board has issued Resolution 494 noting the cessation of operations of the Manila representative office of the US bank.

Javier said The Bank of New York Mellon is winding down the operations of its representative office, which is scheduled to end on July 19.

“The Monetary Board, in its Resolution 494 dated, April 13, 2023, noted the cessation of operations of The Bank of New York Mellon – Manila Representative Office by July 19, 2023,” Javier said via Circular Letter 2023 - 024.

The representative office of  one of the largest banks in the US is located at the Philamlife Tower along Paseo de Roxas Ave. in Makati City.

Established in 1784, The Bank of New York Mellon is America’s oldest bank and the first company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, the bank powers capital markets around the world through comprehensive solutions that help clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment life cycle.

The American bank had $46.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $1.9 trillion in assets under management as of end March this year.

The BSP allows foreign banks  to open representative offices in the Philippines to serve as liaison offices to promote and provide information about the services or products they offer, but may not transact banking businesses, such as acceptance of deposits, issuance of letters of credit and foreign exchange trading.

The presence of regional business development hubs of The Bank of New York Mellon in select market center locations could support client needs, prompting the bank to wind down the operations of its liaison office in the Philippines.

The closure of The Bank of New York Mellon comes amid the global banking crisis that started with the collapse of American banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank.

The crisis spread to Europe with the downfall of Switzerland’s Credit Suisse that is now being acquired by rival UBS, as well as the crisis faced by Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank.

With the impending closure of The Bank of New York Mellon, there will be 10 remaining foreign banks operating representative offices in the Philippines.

These are the Bank of Singapore Ltd. Philippines, Bank of Taiwan, Credit Suisse AG, DBS Bank Ltd., Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Korea Eximbank, Rothschild (Singapore) Ltd., State of India, The Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank Ltd. and UBS AG.

Over the years, foreign banks have been closing their respective offices in the Philippines that provide financial advice and information to foreign companies relocating their manufacturing activities to the Philippines.

In June 2021, Wells Fargo National Association closed down its representative office in Manila during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2020, the Korea Development Bank – Representative Office in the Philippines also closed down amid the global health crisis.