Hidden violations of competitive neutrality
A rule or law may be de jure neutral but may be de facto nonneutral, that is, enforced in a nonneutral manner by the biased enforcement of the law.
Improving competition in the domestic economy
One of the major pieces of economic legislation in Congress is an anti-trust bill. For years, several versions of such proposed legislation have competed for attention in the legislative mill, only to fail passage. Recently, the private chambers included this among its suggestions for priority legislation.
Opportunism, governance failure — 3
The emergence of the PDS Group as a trilateral monopolist lording it over the secondary trading of government securities could not have come about without the active support and assistance of the BSP, the SEC, the Department of Finance and the Bureau of the Treasury.
Opportunism, government failure — 2
Subsequent actions show that the BSP, in connivance with SEC, actively provided the PDS Group the fig leaf of legality which allowed it to virtually monopolize government securities (GS) trading. With no public discussion and scrutiny, the PDS Group successfully inserted itself in GS trading system where once it did not exist, where it was...
Opportunism, government failure — 1
This is an incredible and deplorable saga of how a bunch of private, financial opportunists (PDS Group), in connivance with top bankers and key public officials from BSP, Department of Finance, Treasury, and SEC, have enriched themselves at the expense of the Filipino people.
Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware)
The Philippine Stock Exchange is planning to take over the fixed-income trading platform under Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx). Have the PSE officials done due diligence on their proposed acquisition? Have they checked the controversial birth of PDEx? Are they willing to risk the rising and untarnished reputation of PSE by "buying" a damaged...
Slay the money-making monster
On three occasions, I’ve written about an amorphous organization that is lording it over, and has amassed large sums of undeserved profits from, the trading of government securities. It could potentially be the biggest financial scam in Philippine history.
Grand financial scam
In the present “straight path” regime of President Aquino, one would think that the days of corrupt officials and financial schemers and scammers will be numbered. Apparently not. I’m referring to the activity of an amorphous organization, the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation (PDEx) which has been lording it over the trading of government securities....
Abuse of authority, dereliction of duty
The Bureau of the Treasury is the official registry of scripless government securities (GS). The BTr function cannot be delegated to any other institution, especially a private one, since "the same is tantamount to abandonment by the government of its public function to safeguard the integrity of the information and data relative to public debts,"...
Government failure
To engage in trading of government securities, one cannot avoid doing business with an amorphous organization called the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. Is PDEx a private organization, a quasi-public institution, a private institution imbued with public interest, or what?
The folly of reverting to an oil regulated regime
Overwhelming evidence supports the view that oil deregulation works, that local pump prices behave in sync with world prices, and that oil firms’ profits are reasonable. Reverting to the old, unjust (oil companies made huge profits at consumers’ and taxpayers’ expense), and clearly inefficient, regime will be a monumental mistake.
