LATE last December, Alex Escucha kindly sent me China Bank's centennial book 100 Years of Trust: The China Bank Story. It was prepared to commemorate their centennial in August 2020, but the celebration was postponed to 2021 and even then, had to be more subdued than planned for. The most noteworthy aspect which I found extremely generous was the grant of shares to all employees, which is unprecedented in the Philippines where control of shares is paramount to many majority shareholders. Alex asked if I could share my thoughts on the book. While the very heavy book was not something I could prudently add to my travel material, he pointed out the book is also available in PDF form on their website, and I browsed through much of it. My great grandfather was one of the 20 original incorporators of China Bank in 1920, and there is some biographical material on him in the book which was new to me, so thank you for that. I was also asked to write on my experience with China Bank, primarily in leading their first and to date only placement of shares in the international market. I published it in this column in August 2020 during the actual week the bank turned 100 and a condensed form of it is in the book as well. I am very honored they considered my reminiscence to be worthy of inclusion.

Harmonization