EastWest President and CEO Antonio Moncupa, Jr., EastWest Director Josephine Gotianun Yap, EastWest Chairman Emeritus Andrew Gotianun, Sr., EastWest Chairman Jonathan Gotianun and Filinvest Asia Corp. President Joseph Yap
EastWest Bank, together with other Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) companies Filinvest Land, Inc. and Crimson Hotel Alabang, recently sponsored the Anvil Business Club Meeting held at the Palms Country Club in Alabang.
During the event entitled “Forging New Paths in Real Estate and Banking with the Gotianun Siblings,” Mr. Andrew Gotianun, Sr., Chairman Emeritus of FDC and EastWest Bank, shared valuable advice on how to succeed in business to an audience of young Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs. The most important philosophy, he revealed, is that success in life and business is the result of both hard work and right attitude.
EastWest Chairman Jonathan Gotianun and EastWest President and CEO Antonio Moncupa, Jr. also emphasized the bank’s commitment to become a more relevant and stronger player in the banking industry. In particular, they said that it is important to strengthen the managerial ability, training and organizational set-up of the business. They cited as an example the aggressive branch expansion of EastWest in two years which is expected to close the year with at least 400 branches combined with its subsidiary, EastWest Rural Bank.
At the gathering’s open forum, EastWest highlighted before the Anvil members, who are primarily Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs who may have business dealings with China, that it recently launched a complete line-up of RMB products and services. These offerings are particularly for individuals who are looking for investment opportunities for their RMB and allow smoother business transactions with China-based businesses.
EastWest now offers RMB savings account, time deposit, loan, remittance and trade financing. This is in addition to its current offerings of deposit products, consumer loans, credit cards, corporate credit facilities, treasury, trust, cash management services and emerging markets banking products.
The savings account offers 1% interest rate per annum for a minimum deposit and opening balance of CNY500 while the time deposit currently offers 2.5% interest rate for a minimum placement of CNY 5,000 with term option of either 30, 60, 90 or 180 days.
Businesses will also find it easy transacting with their counterparts anywhere in China through EastWest trade financing services with letters of credit and option to choose the currency of settlement upon maturity. For additional working capital, clients may avail of RMB-denominated loans. The bank also provides forward RMB rates for hedging against foreign currency risk as well as remittance services to China.
China is now regarded as the new frontier in global trade and business. Most Chinese businesses prefer overseas partners who trade in RMB because it eliminates foreign exchange risk from their cost base. RMB is gaining popularity as the currency for global trade as it is now the second most used currency next to the US dollar.
The RMB-denominated products are being offered in partnership with Bank of China. Bank of China is the most internationalized bank in China with 620 offices in more than 40 countries. It has over 11,000 branches all over China and is also considered the top RMB bank in the world in terms of cross-border settlement, products and services.
Anvil Business Club (Association of Young Filipino-Chinese Entrepreneurs) is an organization of dynamic entrepreneurs and professionals committed to propagate positive Confucian and Filipino values, and to pursue excellence in their respective fields for the economic and social progress of the country.