Investment Banks in the Philippines

What are investment banks in the Philippines?

Investment banks in the Philippines are also called investment banking firms or investment houses.

They’re not really “banks” in the sense that we cannot just walk in to their premises and open deposit accounts or apply for bank loans. They do more complex activities. They serve corporations or institutions.

banks

What do investment banks do that other banks are not authorized to do?

  • They help corporations raise money or capital funds through new equity shares, private placements or debts
  • They help institutional investors such as mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies invest their money.
  • They buy or sell securities on behalf of their institutional clients.
  • They advise corporations on mergers and acquisitions.
  • They help in the restructuring and reorganization of a company.
  • They bring investors together with companies that issue securities or broker securities.
  • They manage financial portfolios on behalf of clients.
  • They do financial research, publish and market financial products.
Several investment banks are subsidiaries of universal banks.
Universal banks are authorized to do investment banking activities, but several of them opted to create subsidiaries to focus on investment banking. Others opted to create their own investment banking departments.

Investment Banks in the Philippines

1.    AB Capital and Investment Corp.
2.    Abacus Capital & Investment Corp.
3.    Amalgamated Investment Bancorp.
4.    Ampersand Capital
5.    Asian Alliance Investment Corp.
6.    BA Investments and Holdings, Inc.*
7.    BDO Capital & Investment Corp.
8.    BPI Capital Corp.
9.    China Bank Capital Corp.
10.  CIMB Bancom Capital Corp.*
11.  Citicorp Capital Philippines, Inc.
12.  CLSA Exchange Capital, Inc.
13.  First Metro Investment Corp.
14.  Insular Investment Corp.
15.  Investment & Capital Corp. of the Philippines
16.  Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners, Inc.
17.  Multinational Investment Bancorp.
18.  PBC Capital Investment Corp.
19.  PentaCapital Investment Corp.
20.  Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc.
21.  Philippine Regional Investment Development Corp.
22.  PNB Capital and Investment Corp.
23.  Premiere Capital Venture Corp.**
24.  RCBC Capital Corp.
25.  SB Capital Investment Corp.
26.  State Investment Trust, Inc.
27.  UBS Investments Philippines, Inc.
28.  Unicapital, Inc.

All of the above are members of the Investment House Association of the Philippines (IHAP) and all are registered as with the Securities and Exchange Commission, except below firms.
*Not IHAP member
**Not in SEC list

There are 22 universal banks in the Philippines as of June 2023. They are authorized to do investment banking activities.

  1.    Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines
  2.    Asia United Bank Corp. (AUB)
  3.    Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ)
  4.    Bank of Commerce
  5.    Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)
  6.    BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO)
  7.    China Banking Corp. (ChinaBank)
  8.    Deutsche Bank AG
  9.    Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)
  10.    East West Banking Corp. (EastWest)
  11.    Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC)
  12.    ING Bank NV
  13.    Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank)
  14.    Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank)
  15.    Mizuho Bank Ltd. – Manila Branch
  16.    Philippine Bank of Commerce
  17.    Philippine National Bank (PNB)
  18.    Philippine Trust Co. (Philtrust)
  19.    Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC)
  20.    Security Bank Corp.
  21.    Standard Chartered Bank
  22.    Union Bank of the Philippines (Union Bank)

List of universal banks is based on the BSP directory of banks.

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