EastWest Bank joined
BancNet in 1994 as an Associate member, with full use of the network's facilities and services but without voting rights. In late 2008, EastWest Bank acquired a shareholding in the network, affording the Bank a Board seat as a full member bank. EastWest Bank is divided into the following subsidiaries: •
EastWest Ageas Life Insurance Corporation • EastWest Insurance Brokerage Inc. • EastWest Leasing and Finance Corporation • Quest Marketing and Integrated Services Inc. • Assurance Solutions Insurance Agency
EastWest Rural Bank EastWest Rural Bank Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of East West Banking Corporation, a member of the
Filinvest Group, led by the
Gotianun Family. It is the second largest rural bank in the Philippines in terms of assets. It was also one of three rural banks to be affiliated with the Philippine
interbank network BancNet since 2006.
History Green Bank was incorporated with the Filipino
Securities and Exchange Commission as the
Rural Bank of Nasipit on June 20, 1974. The bank commenced actual operations on April 5, 1975, originally to serve the municipality of
Nasipit, Agusan del Norte. The bank took advantage of a government rediscounting program called
Masagana 99, with the intention of helping poor farmers gain access to credit. However, in the 1980s, with the plunge of the Philippine economy into a
recession and the
assassination of
Benigno Aquino Jr., Green Bank suffered a very high
non-performing loan ratio due to the inability of its farmer-debtors to pay off their Masagana 99 loans. For the next few years, the bank's financial standing gradually deteriorated. In 1988, the Central bank of the Philippines, the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued Circular No. 1126 in 1988, designed to help recapitalize and revitalize distressed rural banks. In the case of Green Bank, it had
arrears with the Bangko Sentral amounting to nearly fifteen million
pesos, requiring it to recapitalize to cope with capital deficiency. Initially, stockholders refused, although some stockholders eventually agreed to aid the bank's recapitalization. The bank merged with the
Rural Bank of Alegria in 2000, becoming the largest rural bank in the Caraga region. It joined BancNet in 2006, being one of three banks that joined the interbank network. The bank followed the
Grameen Bank experimentation with conversion of borrowers from joint liability loans, to individual liability loans, with no drop in repayments. EastWest Rural Bank, or EWRB (formerly FinMan Bank Inc.), consolidated the rural banking businesses of two previously acquired banks, namely Green Bank, Inc. and FinMan Bank, Inc., through an asset acquisition effective November 1, 2013. FinMan Bank, a 16-year-old rural bank based in Pasig, is actively involved in extending credit to farmers, tenants, and rural enterprises. East West infused a total of P520 million in fresh capital into EWRB subsequent to the regulatory approval, which became effective on May 21, 2013, for the latter's increase in authorized capital stock from P80 million to P1 billion. Utilizing Green Bank's robust branch network in the Visayas and Mindanao, EastWest strategically entered the microfinance sector and extended its footprint in Mindanao to enhance its rural lending business. Regulatory approval for this acquisition was granted in December 2013. As of 2016, EastWest Rural Bank had a total branch network of 76 stores, including extension offices and other banking offices all throughout the country. ==Ownership==