Coconut bank delays annual meeting

06 May 1998

Coconut bank delays annual meeting

UNITED Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) has delayed its annual shareholders meeting until 14 August following the recent move by Eduardo Cojuangco, a business associate of the late president Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, to regain control of the government sequestered bank.

The delay from 14 May will give the courts time to resolve various issues while a new administration is elected on 11 May, when Joseph Estrada hopes to replace president Fidel Ramos.

The issues include pre-election activity linked to legal disputes dating back to the Corazon Aquino administration.

Ramos issued an executive order over the weekend lifting the sequestration on coconut levy funds, assets and related companies worth 100 billion pesos ($2.5bn) which were established during the Marcos years to develop the coconut industry.

A million coconut farmers paid levies and invested in companies such as UCPB and San Miguel, in which the bank has a 27% stake.

• Financial Times 06/05/98 page 27