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Japan’s work culture gets a needed COVID-19 shock

By Noah Smith

Japan’s corporate culture is stuck in a bad place. But the coronavirus pandemic might have given it just the nudge it needs to get out of the trap.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, the country developed a corporate system that worked well. Managers, rather than shareholders, controlled companies, allowing long-term planning and investment, keeping employment levels high and fostering economic equality. Workers were hired with the presumption that they would be at one company for their entire career, which gave their employer an incentive to spend lots of resources training them. And everyone worked very long hours.

Since the 1990s, that system has been under strain. Powerful elderly senior managers, promoted up through the ranks, have often proven unwilling or unable to shift business models or organizational structures in response to changes in technology, consumer demand and trade. Long hours left workers exhausted and made it hard for them to take care of their children. Managers used to focusing on how many hours workers sat at their desks are often unable or unwilling to examine how much work is actually getting done. Lifetime employment became a trap; workers were unable to switch employers, reducing the flow of knowledge and expertise between companies and stifling mobility for ambitious young people. And clubby workplace male-bonding culture created a huge barrier to gender equality.

The Japanese government is aware of the problem, and has been attacking it in various ways — discouraging long hours, pushing companies to shift to a shareholder-value business model and encouraging gender equality. But while some progress has been made on corporate governance and hiring of women, the entrenched culture of long, unproductive work hours and management models focused on maximizing inputs rather than outputs, has proven very tough to crack. It’s easy to tell people to go home earlier, but that doesn’t automatically teach managers how to evaluate productivity.

But the shock of coronavirus may provide corporate Japan with just the solution it needs. Japan wasn’t hit very hard by the virus, for reasons still poorly understood. But the country did implement some social distancing measures in April and early May, and one of these was to encourage companies to let employees work from home part of the time.

Many needed no prodding. For example, Dentsu, an advertising company famous for working an employee to death in 2017, had 5,000 workers go remote after one got infected. Japanese companies that produce laptops and other tools for remote work have seen orders surge, while companies that create teleworking software are doing brisk business.

Working from home can encourage a culture of productivity in several ways. First, it can push managers to measure work not by the number of hours an employee logs in a chair, but by the number of discrete tasks that the worker completes in a given time. That in turn encourages managers to think carefully about which objectives are actually important, in order to assign the tasks. Second, working from home pushes workers to think about how they spend their time. At home, there’s often the option of doing housework or child care, forcing workers to budget their time-on-task. This flexibility has the added benefit of making it easier for parents to take care of kids while holding down full-time jobs, which might help increase the country’s chronically low fertility rate. Finally, working from home saves on commuting time.

That’s the theory, anyway. So far, the results are encouraging — at least, anecdotally. After GMO Internet Inc. sent its workers home earlier than other companies, its chief executive officer was so pleased by the results that he found himself questioning the need for an office at all. More than 60% of Japanese workers say they want to continue working from home after the pandemic has passed, and several big electronics companies and financial companies have declared that some remote work will continue for the foreseeable future. The country’s biggest business organization, Keidanren, suggested that telework policies should be made permanent.

The shift isn’t going to be easy for Japan. It will take some time for workers and managers to learn to adapt to the new output-oriented style of work; it’s no surprise that a substantial percentage of Japanese workers say that working from home has reduced their efficiency. But the long-term benefits are likely to exceed the short-term costs.

The Japanese government, as well as organizations like Keidanren, can help ease the transition. One step is to disseminate information about software and hardware tools that facilitate videoconferencing, data security, and other essential elements of remote work. Tax breaks for companies with remote-work options are another possibility. And big media organizations such as national broadcaster NHK can air educational programs and documentaries helping people understand and embrace the shift to remote work, or even entertainment programs showing remote work as a social norm.

Japan’s outmoded, inefficient corporate culture is one of the country’s main obstacles to regaining lost competitiveness, raising productivity and creating a more accommodating work-life balance. Remote work could be the shock that Japan’s corporate culture needs.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Enabling businesses in the more digitized ‘new normal’

Entrego Express Corporation gears up to enable clients in the growing e-commerce landscape

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the logistics sector remains much valued as it is the vital link that transports essential goods and critical medical equipment during the quarantine.

Nicky Gozon, director of Entrego Express Corporation, has observed that logistics and courier services, more than ever, play a critical role in spite of the crisis hurdling business operations.

“We started delivering essentials even at the height of the lockdown because logistics and courier service play a very important role in ensuring that the links of the supply chain are not broken. We need to ensure that all of the lines within the whole industry feeds everything,” he shared in a BUSINESSWORLD INSIGHTS forum last May.

Now, as most of the country transitions to a more relaxed quarantine measure, logistics and courier service are seen to be at the forefront of enabling the “new normal.”

The demand for logistics and courier services have increased, Mr. Gozon noted. The sudden change in consumption habits during the quarantine has pushed this increased demand.

While the pandemic has altered people’s consumption, it has also given way for contactless environments, as seen in the uptrend in work-from-home arrangements, contactless delivery transactions, and digital payments. “The increase in demand needs to be complemented by an increase in capacity with new health and hygiene standards in place,” Mr. Gozon added.

From Click to Brick. An important aspect of e-commerce is a robust on-ground network of logistics fulfillment that will allow them to reach customers anywhere in the Philippines.

Furthermore, as consumption habits have changed and contactless environments have been set in place, the shift from traditional retail to e-commerce has accelerated.

While e-commerce has already been booming before COVID-19, its potential has been further unleashed at a time when most brick-and-mortar stores remained closed during the quarantine to curtail the spread of the virus. Many experts have observed e-commerce’s reemergence both globally and locally.

On a global scale, American management consulting firm Bain & Company observed that demand in the e-commerce world has skyrocketed during the peak of the crisis, looking forward to its continued growth as consumers become used to buying online.

Here in the Philippines, e-commerce is expected to grow to five to six billion dollars within five years from one billion in 2019, according to Olivier Gergele, a partner in multinational professional services firm Ernest & Young Singapore.

Online shopping and marketing platforms will play a bigger role in the new normal, National Economic Development Authority Acting Secretary Karl Chua likewise noted, as businesses and consumers increase the use of electronic transactions like cashless payment system and other financial technology platforms.

Efficient logistics for a growing online market

With this observed presence and growth of e-commerce in the new normal, Mr. Gozon sees efficient logistics and courier services as enabler of e-commerce growth.

“Entrego is in a very important position in the new normal: bridging the online market to the end customers,” he said. “Our business is designed to connect the archipelago with our nationwide network.”

Entrego Express Corporation’s end-to-end fulfillment and logistics solutions serve not only e-commerce companies but also other industries including banking and finance, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, retail, automotive, fast-moving consumer goods, education, and construction.

Entrego Express Corporation serves business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) needs of its clients with extensive value-added services. It also caters to domestic freight forwarding via air, land, and sea.

Entrego Express Corporation also offers a logistics solutions platform, myentregoaimed at enabling the country’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (msmes). This platform allows sellers and shippers to book their deliveries in a very convenient way.

In this new normal, Entrego Express Corporation is ready to empower businesses as they tap the potentials of e-commerce to reach a wider market. For Mr. Gozon, a fulfillment and logistics solution provider like Entrego Express Corporation serves as the other half of e-commerce. “With the fast growing market adoption towards e-commerce and a well-oiled logistics infrastructure, we will enable more businesses to grow,” he said.

For more information on Entrego Express Corporation and its services, visit https://www.entregoexpress.com.ph/.

Reusable cups, bags safe to use during COVID-19, Greenpeace says

Reusable products such as cups and bags are safe to use even during the coronavirus pandemic as long as basic hygiene practices are employed, according to Greenpeace USA Inc.

Reusable products are safe to use even during the coronavirus pandemic as long as basic hygiene practices are employed, according to Greenpeace USA Inc.

Single-use plastic is not inherently safer than reusable products as the virus can remain infectious on both surfaces for varying time, Greenpeace said in a statement endorsed by over 100 health experts around the globe. Either reusable or disposable, they can be cleaned with widely used household disinfectants, such as soap and detergent, it said.

Concern over virus transmission has spurred consumption of single-use plastic products globally, including personal protective gear, medical equipment, and delivery packaging. The resurgence in the use of disposable materials will have negative impact on the environment and undermine years-long global efforts to curb plastic pollution, according to Greenpeace.

“It’s been shocking to witness the plastic industry take advantage of the pandemic to promote throwaway plastics,” Graham Forbes, Greenpeace USA global project leader, said. “It is crucial for businesses and governments to know that as they reopen, reusable systems can be deployed safely to protect both our environment and workers and customers.”

The pandemic has renewed commitment to hygiene, which has helped drive sales of plastic like polystyrene as consumers relegate environmental priorities in an effort to stay clear of the virus. About 15 million tons of polystyrene are produced globally every year, which is used in cars and hospital ventilators as well as takeaway coffee cups and food packaging. — Bloomberg

Globe services and assistance package for COVID-19 reaches P1.3 billion

During the first three months of the pandemic, Globe Telecom was able to come up with over P1.3 billion in combined services and assistance package for COVID-19. This consists of support for Globe employees and vendor partners, services and promos, external fund-raising efforts, monetary and in-kind donations.

Food packs

The bulk of the amount went to salaries and benefits which Globe continued to provide even to managed service partners and vendor employees to help ensure their safety, health, and well-being as well as their families. Globe currently holds weekly rapid antibody testing of all its frontliners and has contributed to the AC Health COVID-19 facility to accommodate its workforce and their families who may contract the virus.

Rapid antibody testing

The company has also provided food allowance, transportation, accommodation, insurance, and medical expense assistance to its critical skeletal workforce who kept back end operating systems including the Globe network fully operational during the enhanced community quarantine.

There were also numerous services and promos offered by Globe to assist both the government and its customers, ranging from toll-free hotlines and zero-rated access to select government websites and relevant apps, increased data allocation to customers, free unlimited WiFi services to hospitals, airports, and supermarkets, free or discounted access to work-from-home tools for businesses, free telehealth and mental health services, free preloaded mobile phones for hospital and government frontliners, and free SMS broadcast, among others.

Preloaded mobile phones for frontliners

In solidarity with  its external and internal stakeholders, Globe launched donation drives  to help frontliners, hospitals, and relevant government and non-government organizations. Millions of pesos were raised to purchase rapid antibody testing kits and personal protective equipment including face shields and face masks. Likewise, the company provided financial assistance for the conversion of the World Trade Center into a temporary healthcare facility and for the provision of relief packs for underprivileged communities.

“The impact of the pandemic to the world has been unprecedented. Yet we were able to test our resilience as an organization.  Our digital-first, agile mindset and collaborative culture has helped us quickly  overcome the initial shock from the community quarantine.  Today we see a lot of Filipinos adopting to digital. This brings Globe at the forefront again, and our challenge this time is to make connectivity and consistent quality of experience as pervasive as possible,” said Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO.

As restrictions ease up, Globe continuously looks for ways to make life easier for Filipinos who are still adjusting to the new normal. The company is making inroads with 917 Ventures, its wholly-owned  subsidiary and the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines that provides services beyond connectivity.  For instance, KonsultaMD telehealth services are now offered both through calls and video for medical consultation anytime and anywhere. For financial inclusion, GCash has extended its services to cater not only to online payments but also providing better than bank rate savings and lending facilities all in the same app.

Globe aligns its actions with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals No. 3 on good health and well-being, No. 8 on decent work and economic growth, No. 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, and No. 17 on partnerships for the goals.

For more information about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.

Helping MSMEs adapt to the new normal

AMTI offers digital solutions to boost MSMEs

“MSMEs are the backbone of the Philippine society for job creation and economic contribution. They have to digitalize and use technologies to create new ways of doing business,” said AMTI EVP for Technology, Sales and Marketing Bong M. Paloma.

Clearly, being the backbone of the Philippine economy, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) deserve the utmost attention during this crisis. This is why AMTI, one of the leading technology companies in the country today, has put together appropriate digital solutions using new technologies so that affected MSMEs can reinvent their business models.

Digital technology has provided the means for many businesses to continue operating despite the imposed nationwide community quarantine. Remote work has become commonplace, and many businesses are learning of the opportunities that e-commerce, digital marketing, and other digital solutions are offering them.

AMTI has committed to working with various financial channels to facilitate easy access to the Philippine Guarantee Corporation credit guarantee program so they can acquire the digital bundled solution. By leveraging digital tools and technologies, MSMEs can now actively participate in the commerce of the new normal and would have the necessary tools to ensure their medium and long-term survival.

“MSMEs are the pathfinders during the journey to an economic recovery,” Mr. Paloma said. “AMTI, together with their ecosystem of technology partners, will put together affordable and innovative offerings to help MSMEs pivot their business ventures to adopt digital technologies and enable their customers, partners and the local community to survive and thrive in the long term. In doing so, it aims to help turn this crisis into opportunities with proper motivation, determination and purpose.”

AMTI, a more than two-decade-old organization, is one of the biggest, trusted, and most diversified ICT companies in the Philippines and is likewise a long-time partner of Dell Technologies. It provides Workforce Transformation solutions to help companies address their pain points and deliver their desired business outcomes.

Talk to AMTI now to help you analyze your current workforce situation and remote work readiness and to come up with recommendations and solutions tailored for your business. Send your inquiries at inquiries@amti.com.ph.

 

 

JPMorgan says investors should be more selective in second half

Investors should be more selective in the next six months as asset returns are likely to diverge because liquidity “cannot paper over specific weaknesses indefinitely,” according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

An “indiscriminate approach” to a portfolio would largely have worked in April and May, when most financial assets rallied — a typical result at a turning point in the cycle, according to strategists led by John Normand in a June 19 note. They cited extreme positioning and liquidity dynamics, plus central-bank asset purchases, as contributing to increased correlations when economies enter recessions and then move to expansions.

“But typically these high correlations mean-revert to their long-term averages within a few months, in part because the pace of quantitative easing slows and in turn allows country, sector and company-specific factors to reassert themselves,” the strategists wrote. The second half of 2020 “should bring this sort of differentiation.”

JPMorgan’s recommendations for the second half of 2020 include:

• In bonds, take duration risk only in countries with positive inflation-adjusted yields and limited concerns about debt sustainability

• Favor high-grade credit over high yield on default-rate concerns

• Pick developed over emerging-market corporate debt; many EMs outside north Asia face bigger challenges managing public-health and debt sustainability issues

• In stocks, choose Covid-19 “endgame winners” such as technology, communications and health care, as opposed to a broad preference for cyclicals or defensive shares

• Sell the US dollar versus G-10 currencies with strong current-account positions like the Swedish krona or Japanese yen, and EM currencies with high real yields like the Mexican peso, Russian ruble, and Indonesian rupiah

• Stick with gold among commodities as it’s most leveraged to a low real-yield environment, and to agriculture, the cheapest market

Bloomberg

Asia’s wealthiest man joins club of world’s 10 richest

Asia’s richest man has entered a new league of wealth.

The net worth of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., has jumped to $64.5 billion, making him the only Asian tycoon in the exclusive club of the world’s top 10 richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He overtook Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. and France’s Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the wealthiest woman, to reach the No. 9 spot.

Mr. Ambani, who owns 42% of Reliance, has benefited from a flurry of investment into the company’s digital unit, Jio Platforms Ltd., that Reliance said has made it net-debt free ahead of a March 2021 target. The shares of the Indian conglomerate have doubled from a low in March, just as other billionaires on the list have been hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. They climbed another 1.2% as of 9:37 a.m., Monday, in Mumbai.

While the Indian economy “has been nearly decimated” during the lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19, “Mr. Ambani’s companies (particularly the telecom giant Jio) have prospered, and his personal wealth has increased substantially,” said Jayati Ghosh, chair of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

A media representative for Reliance declined to comment on Ambani’s fortune.

ECONOMIC DIVIDE
The rise of the 63-year-old as India heads for its worst-ever recession is a reminder of the nation’s deep economic divide, in which the top 10% hold more than three-quarters of the total wealth, and where most new fortune creation stays in the hands of the richest 1%. Mr. Ambani lives in a 27-story mansion in Mumbai, known as Antilia, that has three rooftop helipads, parking for 168 cars, a 50-seat movie theater, a grand ballroom with crystal chandeliers, three floors of Babylon-inspired hanging gardens, a yoga studio, and a health spa and fitness center.

While a crash in oil prices caused uncertainty in a stake sale of Reliance’s oil and chemicals division, in just two months Jio managed to attract some $15 billion — more than half the investment into telecom companies worldwide this year. Facebook Inc., General Atlantic, Silver Lake Partners, KKR & Co., and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund are among those trying to get a slice of one of the world’s fastest-growing online commerce markets. A June report by Sanford C. Bernstein predicted that Jio is likely to capture 48% of India’s mobile subscriber market share by 2025.

In the latest potential deal slated to bolster Mr. Ambani’s e-commerce ambitions, Reliance is close to acquiring stakes in some units of Future Group, which already has a partnership with Amazon.com Inc., people familiar with the matter have said.

Mr. Ambani got his start in the family’s business in the early 1980s, when his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, summoned him back to India to oversee construction of a polyester mill after a year at Stanford Business School. The Ambanis began to buy up suppliers as well as petrochemical plants and oil refineries and eventually built the company into a fabrics-textiles-and-energy empire. Dhirubhai died of a stroke in 2002 without leaving a will, triggering a feud between Mukesh and his brother, Anil.

In a settlement brokered by their mother, the brothers split the family business. Mukesh retained control over the refining, petrochemicals, oil and gas, and textiles operations, while Anil took the telecommunications, asset-management, entertainment and power-generation businesses. In 2013, the brothers announced a $220 million pact to share a fiber-optic network, their first deal since splitting the Reliance empire. Parts of Anil’s operations have since struggled, with a unit of his Reliance Communications Ltd. filing for bankruptcy last year.

Mukesh revels in being the biggest. In India, Reliance officially became just that last year, when it surpassed state-owned Indian Oil Corp. to become the country’s largest company by revenue. At Reliance’s annual shareholder meeting in August, which is covered like a national event — including by its media and entertainment arm, Network18 — Ambani called it the “golden decade of Reliance.” He celebrated the group’s growing list of superlatives: the largest telecom enterprise by subscribers, revenues, and profit; a retail arm larger than all other major retailers combined; an oil giant that makes India’s largest export.

“We are also incubating newer growth engines,” Mr. Ambani said at the time, adding that he hoped the digital-driven expansion could be more inclusive. “No power on earth can stop India from rising higher.”

At least on the global wealth ranking, that seems to be the case. — Bloomberg

Wirecard says missing $2.1B likely does not exist; withdraws results

Wirecard AG on Monday said there was a likelihood that the 1.9 billion euros ($2.13 billion) reported missing from its accounts simply did not exist in the first place.

The scandal-hit German payments firm said it was also withdrawing its full-year 2019 and first-quarter 2020 financial results. “The Management Board of Wirecard assesses on the basis of further examination that there is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of 1.9 billion EUR do not exist,” the company said in a statement. Additionally, the company said it is examining a range of possible measures to ensure continuation of its business operations, which include cost reductions, restructuring, disposal or termination of business units.

Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun quit on Friday as the company’s search for $2.1 billion of missing cash hit a dead end in the Philippines and as it scrambled to secure a financial lifeline from its banks.

The central bank of Philippines said on Sunday that none of the $2.1 billion missing from Wirecard appeared to have entered the Philippine financial system. On Thursday, auditor Ernst & Young (EY) refused to sign off the German company’s 2019 accounts over the missing amount. The auditor was unable to confirm the existence of that amount in cash balances on trust accounts, representing about a quarter of Wirecard’s balance sheet, the payments company said on Thursday.

In-house auditor EY had regularly approved Wirecard’s accounts in recent years, and its refusal to sign off for 2019 confirmed failings found in an external probe by KPMG in April.

Wirecard, which has long been a target of short sellers who have questioned its financials, said on Friday it may be the victim of “fraud of considerable proportions”. — Reuters

[B-SIDE Podcast] Artificial intelligence: the key to a thriving post-pandemic economy

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the key to helping the Philippine economy get back on its feet. Without sufficient technology and automation in place, high-touch human operations are paralyzed. As the world recovers, it will require a re-imagination of human and business processes to future-proof against the next crisis.

In this episode, BusinessWorld reporter Jenina P. Ibanez speaks with Dong Shou, co-founder and chief operating officer of ADVANCE.AI, an artificial intelligence and big-data company headquartered in Singapore.

TAKEAWAYS

AI is essential to the digital transformation of a business.

AI — specifically optical character recognition (OCR, which converts images of typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-encoded text), facial recognition, natural language processing, along with big data analysis — can aid the digital transformation of traditional offline businesses by automating processes and improving productivity.

These technologies also allow machines to sort through big data and improve contactless customer experience.

Imagine walking into a bank without having to present any sort of identification to complete a transaction since you’ve already been vetted by the bank’s facial recognition system.

“Digital transformation is a process. It takes time. You don’t have to go from the beginning to the end in one big step. You can take small steps along the way to your big goal,” said Mr. Shou.

In 2019, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) began drafting the government’s AI roadmap with the help of data scientists. Mr. Shou’s recommendations include upgrading national infrastructure in order to move to 5G networks from 4G; improving national education and emphasizing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics); supporting digital startups and entrepreneurs and allowing them to experiment in a regulatory sandbox; fostering a friendly investment climate; and committing public and private support to educate the current workforce.

The shift to digital must be accompanied by increased data security.

Data must be used for clear and specific purposes. For example, respect for patient confidentiality must be maintained even in the online world. Systems must be tested rigorously before they are deployed and government must set up regulations to prevent bad actors from abusing personal data.

BPOs and other labor-intensive industries must upskill and retrain their people. 

Given that the pandemic forced global multinational corporations to reduce their offshore operations, BPOs must upskill and retrain their people, who, in turn, must learn to work with AI systems. “Being able to speak good English, especially for the Philippines, is no longer a big advantage because now we have chatbots which can do the work faster with lower cost,” said Mr. Shou. Released from rote tasks, human beings can focus their energies on high-value tasks that require creativity and critical thinking.

Recorded remotely on April 20. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

Philex Mining sets virtual annual stockholders’ meeting on July 15

PHILEX MINING CORPORATION
Notice of 2020 Annual General Stockholders’ Meeting

TO OUR STOCKHOLDERS:

Please be informed that the Annual General Stockholders’ Meeting (“AGM” or the “Meeting”) of PHILEX MINING CORPORATION (the “Company”) will be held on Wednesday, 15 July 2020 at 4:00 p.m., and will be presided at TV 5 Media Center, Reliance St. Mandaluyong City. The meeting will be conducted virtually, and attendance at the meeting will be via remote communication only.

The order of business at the Meeting will be as follows:

  1. Call to Order;
  2. Proof of required notice of the meeting;
  3. Certification of quorum;
  4. Reading and approval of the Minutes of the 26 June 2019 annual stockholders’ meeting and action thereon;
  5. Presentation of annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 and action thereon;
  6. Ratification and approval of the acts of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers during the year 2019;
  7. Appointment of independent auditors;
  8. Election of directors, including independent directors;
  9. Other matters;
  10. Adjournment.

For purposes of the Meeting, only stockholders of record as of the close of business on 8 April 2020 are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Meeting.

The Definitive Information Statement for the Meeting is posted on the Company’s website. To access the Definitive Information Statement, with the attached Management Report, Audited Financial Statements for the period ended 31 December 2019 and Proxy Form, please go to (http://www.philexmining.com.ph/).

Attendance via remote communication. Stockholders who will attend the Meeting should email the Corporate Secretary at bcmigallos@philexmining.com.ph not later than 5 July 2020. Certificated shareholders must indicate in the email their Stockholder ID number and submit a scanned copy of a valid current government ID. Uncertificated shareholders (shareholders who hold their shares through a PCD Nominee account), should submit a certification from their broker attesting that the stockholder is the beneficial owner of shares of stock of the Company (the number of shares must be indicated) and a valid government ID.

Clarificatory questions regarding attendance via remote communication maybe sent via email to bcmigallos@philexmining.com.ph.

Stockholders can be represented and vote at the Meeting by submitting the said proxy by email to bcmigallos@philexmining.com.ph or by sending a physical copy to the Office of the Corporate Secretary at the Company’s principal office at 2/F LaunchPad, Reliance corner Sheridan Streets, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. The deadline for submission of proxies is 5 July 2020. Proxy validation will be on 8 July 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at the Company’s office address indicated above.

On-line voting. Secured on-line or electronic voting will be available for stockholders. Stockholders who have pre-registered attendance via remote communication may vote online by logging on to http://www.philexmining.com.ph/investor-relations/vote-online to cast their votes. On-line voting instruction are attached to the Notice as Annex “B”. On-line voting will close at 12:00 noon on 13 July 2020.

Open Forum. There will be an Open Forum during the Meeting. Stockholders who will attend via remote communication should send their questions via email to bcmigallos@philexmining.com.ph on or before 12:00 noon of 13 July 2020.

PXP Energy sets virtual annual stockholders’ meeting on July 15

PXP ENERGY CORPORATION
(formerly Philex Petroleum Corporation)

Notice of Annual General Stockholders’ Meeting

Please be informed that the Annual General Stockholders’ Meeting (“AGM” or “Meeting”) of PXP ENERGY CORPORATION (the “Company”) will be held on Wednesday, 15 July 2020 at 1:30 p.m., and will be presided at TV 5 Media Center, Reliance St., Mandaluyong City. The meeting will be conducted virtually, and attendance at the meeting will be via remote communication only.

The order of business at the Meeting will be as follows:

  1. Call to Order;
  2. Proof of required notice of the meeting;
  3. Certification of quorum;
  4. Reading and approval of the Minutes of the 21 May 2019 annual stockholders’ meeting and action thereon;
  5. Presentation of annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 and action thereon;
  6. Ratification and approval of the acts of the Board of Directors and Executive Officers during the year 2019;
  7. Appointment of independent auditors;
  8. Election of directors, including independent directors;
  9. Other matters;
  10. Adjoiurnment

For purposes of the Meeting, only stockholders of record as of the close of business on 12 March 2020 are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Meeting. The Definitive Information Statement with the attached Management Report, SEC Form 17-A with the Audited Financial Statements for the period ended 31 December 2019, and the Minutes of the Annual General Stockholders’ Meeting of the Company held on 21 May 2019 may be accessed at the Company’s website https://www.pxpenergy.com.ph/.

The Meeting will be via remote communication only. Stockholders who will attend the Meeting should email the Corporate Secretary at bcmigallos@pxpenergy.com.ph on or before 5 July 2020. Certificated shareholders must indicate their Stockholder ID number and submit a scanned copy of a valid current ID. Uncertificated shareholders (shareholders who hold their shares through a PCD Nominee account), should submit a certification from their broker attesting that the stockholder is the beneficial owner of shares of stock of the Company (the number of shares must be indicated) and a valid current ID. Clarificatory questions regarding attendance via remote communication may be sent via email to bcmigallos@pxpenergy.com.ph.

Once the Company successfully verifies the stockholder’s status, the Company will reply to each stockholder with (1) a link through which the Meeting may be accessed; and (2) with an online ballot or SECURITY CODE to be used for online voting. Questions relating to the Meeting materials may also be sent to bcmigallos@pxpenergy.com.ph on or before on or before 12:00 noon of 13 July 2020. Due to time considerations, questions that will not be addressed at the Meeting will be responded to via email.

Proxies. A proxy form that is compliant with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission is attached to the Definitive Information Statement. Stockholders can be represented and vote at the Meeting by submitting the said proxy by email to bcmigallos@pxpenergy.com.ph or by sending a physical copy to the Office of the Corporate Secretary at the Company’s principal office at 2/F LaunchPad, Reliance corner Sheridan Streets, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. The deadline for submission of proxies is 5 July 2020. Proxy validation will be on 8 July 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at the Company’s office address indicated above.

On-line voting. Secured on-line or electronic voting will be available for stockholders. Stockholders who have pre-registered attendance via remote communication may vote on-line by logging on to https://www.pxpenergy.com.ph/agmvote2020/ to cast their votes. On-line voting instruction are attached to this Notice as Annex “B”. On-line voting will close at 12:00 noon on 13 July 2020.

Open Forum. Stockholders should send their questions via email to  bcmigallos@pxpenergy.com.ph on or before 12:00 noon of 13 July 2020. Officers of the Company will endeavor to answer all questions during the Meeting.

Wirecard’s $2.1B did not enter PHL — BSP

THE $2.1 billion missing from German payment company Wirecard AG did not enter the country’s financial system, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said on Sunday.

“None of the missing $2.1 billion of German firm Wirecard entered the Philippine financial system,” Mr. Diokno said in a text message.

Wirecard’s share price nosedived last week after it was reported that about 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of its funds had gone missing. Chief Executive Markus Braun, who blamed the company’s problems on fraud, quit on Friday.

While Wirecard did not mention where the missing money allegedly went, BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Friday issued separate statements denying any business relationship with the German company.

Mr. Diokno said BDO and BPI did not suffer any losses, but the central bank is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

“The initial report is that no money entered the Philippines and that there is no loss to both banks,” he said. “The international financial scandal used the names of two of the country’s biggest banks — BDO and BPI in an attempt to cover the perpetrators’ track.”

BPI and BDO said they had informed Ernst and Young, which serves as external auditor for Wirecard, that bank documents pertaining to the presence of the funds were “spurious.”

BPI, however, told Reuters on Saturday it had suspended an assistant manager whose signature appeared on one of the fraudulent documents.

BDO also told the central bank that it appeared one of its marketing officers had fabricated a bank certificate.

Mr. Diokno reiterated the Philippine banking system was in a strong position going into the coronavirus pandemic and well-capitalized.

DOUBT LINGERS?
Economists said BSP’s latest statement will come as a relief to Philippine banks and investors, although some doubts may linger.

“With the latest clarifications from the BSP that none of Wirecard’s missing funds entered the Philippine financial system, this issue would have minimal impact in terms of international investor sentiment on the Philippines,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

While the issue is unlikely to affect market sentiment, Ateneo de Manila University economist Alvin P. Ang said it is “alarming that the Philippine banks are targeted.”

For his part, Colegio de San Juan de Letran Graduate School Dean Emmanuel J. Lopez said a “cloud of doubt lingers in the mind of the business community” despite statements from the local lenders that they do not have business relationships with Wirecard.

“The integrity of the financial system has once again been put to test. This sends a strong signal to the Legislature that safety measures must be in place to put the integrity of the financial system in place,” he said.

The Philippines is facing the possibility of being included in a “gray list” of economies with lax laws on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, if it fails to amend existing laws.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had placed the Philippines under a 12-month observation period, originally scheduled to end in October but was extended to February 2021. During this time, the Philippines has to address the gaps identified in the Republic Act No. 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007 and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (AMLA).

The proposed Anti-Terror Act, which amends the Human Security Act, is currently awaiting President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signature.

Proposed amendments to AMLA, which are also relevant to the FATF assessment, have yet to advance beyond the committee level at both the House of Representatives and the Senate. — Luz Wendy T. Noble with Reuters