Viscount Bridport, Chairman, Bridport
For the former chief executive of PCIBank it has been a strange year. He knew he was to fill the capacious boots of career central banker Gabriel Singson, although for many months it was never made official.
The uncertainty was finally dispelled last month when both men went on a roadshow to New York and London to calm investor fears. It is difficult to see what fears investors could hold with Buenaventura in charge. Bankers in Manila welcome the change, stating that he will bring a more market-friendly perspective to the central bank.
Buenaventura is an ex-Citibanker - and is the first of Citi's alumni to head an Asian central bank. He spent 24 years with Citi, 17 of them outside the Philippines. He was the first Asian member of the US bank's international staff - a cadre which till that point had contained only Americans....
