(You wouldn’t want anybody nosing around your personal information but you would like to know if other people think your credit score stinks, and why! Photo courtesy of Aladdin Cordero.)

If you are worried about the smokes and mirrors surrounding your official credit score, or believe that after a bad credit spell banks should give you a chance, here’s something that might cheer you up.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will sign today Republic Act 9510 or the Credit Information Act, which will create a credit bureau called Central Credit Information Corp.

The CCIC will pool data from banks, quasi-banks and their subsidiaries and affiliates, life insurance companies, credit card firms, government lending institutions and other credit facilities.
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Yesterday’s “Pesos and Sense” seminar at the Makati Sports Club was, in my opinion, very successful and extremely interesting. Speakers Chinkee Tan, Randell Tiongson and Francis Kong drew up a crowd and not only talked about dealing with debt, investing and saving, but also kept money issues in perspective. One of the seminar participants even flew in from Cebu, fly-in-fly-out style.

Randell Tiongson, president and chief operating officer of Personal Finance Advisers Phils. Corp., made a very interesting comparison between two giants in the world of finance: Jesse Livermore and Warren Buffett.

Jesse Livermore was a master in the art of speculation. He was first and foremost a trader and a technician who preached never to “fight the tape.” One of his rules was to cut your losses when your losses reach 10%.
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I have heard so much about the Bank of the Philippine Island’s web facilities. Wearing the hat of a consumer, I have been impressed by their technological innovations ever since I can remember (ATM, phone banking) so I wasn’t surprised when I heard from many of my interviewees that they find its online service very helpful especially when they are abroad.

I finally got around to registering for an online account last week and sat in front of my laptop, pregnant with anticipation.

First try: site undergoing maintenance. Please call 89-100.
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Michael Manuel and J. Edmond Garcia of Sunlife

With Banco de Oro posting a P1.3-billion loss in the third quarter due to its exposure to bankrupt Lehman Brothers there’s bound to be questions on how the banking industry will fare as a whole, considering that this crisis has its roots in the financial sector.

Here is the transcript of portions of a recent interview I had with J. Edmond Garcia, director for investments of Sun Life Financial Philippines, and Michael G. Manuel, chief investment officer of the same company. These guys have been watching different sectors of the Philippine economy closely since they were stock analysts more than 10 years ago.

MoneySmarts: What are your thoughts about how this crisis will affect the Philippines and the financial sector here?

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“Money, you should pardon the expression, is a little bit like manure. It doesn’t do any good unless it’s spread around, encouraging young things to grow.”

–Hello Dolly, Barbara Streisand

BY Chiu-ying Wong, CFA
Chartered Financial Analysts Society of the Philippines

A proposal is pending in the Senate to set up Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) in the Philippines. The proposed legislative framework was submitted by Senator Edgardo J. Angara to the Philippine Senate in July 2007, and the bill as submitted can be downloaded from this website : http://www.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=14&q=SBN-63. Since then, it has gone through many revisions. This article provides a basic introduction to this new type of financial product, and explores its policy implications.

How does a REIT work?
In general, a REIT is a legal entity that owns income-generating properties directly or through a subsidiary, and passes on the rental income to its shareholders on a regular basis. It is usually set up by the owners of an existing income-generating property, who will initially transfer the title of the property to a separate legal entity, either a corporation or a trust (referred to as a REIT), and then list the REIT on the stock exchange by offering part of the ownership of the REIT to the public in exchange for equity infusion. The animated graphics at this website provides a simplified example of the process of setting up a REIT.

Alternative forms of REITs have developed in other countries. A REIT that holds ownership of properties is often called an equity REIT. There are now mortgage REITs and hybrid REITs, the former of which holds mortgages of properties instead of ownership of properties, and the latter a mix of equity and mortgage REITs. Different countries have their own special types of REITs, mostly designed to minimize the tax burden of sponsors and investors.
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Where does the line between a business’ responsibilities end and a consumer’s rights begin?

Take the case of faulty packaging. Last Monday, I bought a blouse in Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, along with other stuff. (No, it wasn’t a shopping binge. It was a carefully planned purchase as we are all in crisis mode. Honest!)

Then my daughter and I walked around that delightful little mall and eventually reached the top floor to buy popcorn before we head home to Quezon City. To our surprise, we discovered that the paper bag’s bottom was half-open and the blouse was nowhere to be found. What started as a relaxing evening began to be extremely vexing.
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Markets are back on their feet and talks of Armageddon and the end of the world are replaced by hope–albeit tentative—that the financial storm has passed. CNN earlier today reported that Americans are feeling a wee bit better about the meltdown and there were little green arrows all over equity electronic boards this morning.

Can we dare hope that the worst is now over?

It feels good to see markets recovering. Even Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at NYU who as early as 2006 has been beating heavily on the doors of government to take action, looked slightly relieved in his interview with Bloomberg television last week. He said finally the US government has done the right thing in recapitalizing US banks and not just buying toxic assets.
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Our reporter in Malacanang, Joel Guinto, reported just now that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved a move to raise deposit insurance coverage to P1 million from the current P250,000.

This would still require new legislation. If approved by both houses, this move will increase confidence in the banking system by time deposit-loving Filipinos.

Deposit insurance simply means if a bank goes pfft, you can still get your deposit up to P1 million from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. There are, however, several common misconceptions about deposit insurance.
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Photo courtesy of Aladdin Cordero

The art of becoming rich is simply to live richly in body, mind, heart and spirit.

You become physically rich when you have rich sensations: When your senses are alert and attuned to life so that the very fact of being alive takes on new dimensions and simple experiences have new meaning…The smell of a rose, the stretch of a muscle, the sight of a mountain, the sound of the surf, the taste of strawberries, the touch of clean white sheets…

You become mentally rich when you think rich thoughts: When you immerse your mind in the noble thoughts of [others], preserved through the ages in books; when you are curious to learn all you can about the world and its people, the earth beneath your feet and the farthest star in infinite space; when you develop an appreciation of beauty in painting and sculpture, poetry and music; when you expand your mind to encompass great ideas; when you use the magic of your mind to create and to serve…
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