Rizal Bank CEO quits to take responsibility on Bangladesh heist

[MANILA] Rizal Commercial Banking Corp president and chief executive officer Lorenzo Tan resigned to take "moral responsibility" for the Philippine lender's involvement in the US$81 million laundering of Bangladesh reserves.

His resignation came even as an internal investigation by the lender cleared him from any wrongdoing in relation to the banking heist.

Rizal Bank's board accepted the resignation with regrets, the company said in a statement. Chairman Helen Dee will oversee the bank operations until a replacement is appointed, it said.

The exit of Mr Tan, who led the bank since 2007, follows the resignation of Treasurer Raul Tan last month amid the Philippine senate's investigation on the lender's role in the transfer of the money stolen from Bangladesh. The two aren't related.

"Despite having been cleared of any wrongdoing, as president and CEO of RCBC, I take full moral responsibility for this sad incident in the history of the bank," Lorenzo Tan said in a separate statement.

The Philippine central bank is also conducting its own probe, which will be completed by early May. Financial institutions found to have broken rules will be penalised, the regulator had said.

BLOOMBERG