Sir,
The recent Euromoney article entitled "The killer in Manila" contains a number of unsubstantiated implications, exaggerations and misrepresentations concerning our role in bringing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to the yankee bond market.
We would like to make three points.
First, as the accompanying letter makes clear, all six managers unanimously agreed that postponement of the offering was entirely appropriate given market conditions and the Philippines' main objective: providing a liquid long-term pricing benchmark to enhance the funding opportunity for future Philippine borrowing initiatives. We commend the letter to your attention, and note the cooperative spirit among the co-managers.
Second, suggestions that Salomon Brothers proposed discount fees or unusual expense arrangements to win the mandate are simply untrue.
And third, the story alleges that investors who called in for the BSP conference call were connected to a wrong number. An incorrect number resulting from transposing digits was initially furnished to our sales force and to the co-managers. However, that mistake was corrected quickly. The correct number was confirmed to all co-managers and potential investors at least three hours prior to the actual conference call. The result was a successful conference call, with full participation by the anticipated group of investors.