The Philippine National Bank (PNB) has announced that PNB President and CEO Omar Byron T. Mier will retire on May 27, 2014. Atty. Reynaldo A. Maclang, current PNB Director, will succeed Mr. Mier as President and CEO.

President Mier gleaned banking experience by starting a career at Citibank Manila, Citibank Malaysia and Deutsche Bank. His wealth of experience paved the way for him to mark another milestone in his career when he joined PNB in 2002 as Chief Credit Officer. He then became the president and CEO of the Bank in 2005. During this period, PNB’s asset quality improved significantly with a 38% reduction in non-performing loans (NPL) from Php 45.2 billion in 2003 to Php 27.9 billion by the end of 2005. The Bank’s net income also resulted in a three-fold rise from Php 1.9 billion in 2003 to Php 5.2 billion in 2005.

Under President Mier’s leadership, PNB ushered the Bank’s transition into a fully private bank in 2007. The Bank also continued to bring its NPL level down by 63% over the last two years. It was also this year that PNB prepaid its Php 6.1 billion obligation to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), four years ahead of the loan’s due date. PNB’s performance in 2007 affirmed the wisdom of the three-pronged business objective that the Bank has pursued since 2005: strengthen core business, reduce non-performing assets and increase profitability. Come 2010, PNB delivered solid financial and operating results. 2010’s net income surged to Php 3.54 billion, registering a 61% increase year-on-year – the highest ever since PNB’s profit turnaround in 2003.

After Mr. Mier’s stint as president and CEO, he continued to share his experience and expertise with the Bank as member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Committee for the next two years. In 2012, he once again took over the reins after former President Carlos A. Pedrosa.

From 2012 to 2014, President Mier oversaw a period of strength for PNB, which garnered accolades such as the Silver Award for Good Corporate Governance from the Institute of Corporate Directors in 2011 and 2012 and the Top Commercial Bank in Generating Remittances from Overseas Filipinos from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from 2011 to 2013. It was also during this time that President Mier steered the way to a successful merger with Allied Banking Corporation to become the 4th largest bank in assets. As of December 31, 2013, PNB’s consolidated assets reached Php 618.1 billion, higher by Php 287.9 billion or 87.2% compared to Php 330.2 billion in the previous year. PNB posted a net income of Php 5.2 billion in 2013, a 9.6% increase against the Php 4.7 billion registered in 2012.

President Mier’s charismatic leadership inspired many to reinvigorate PNB into becoming the bigger and stronger bank it is today.

The PNB Board of Directors and Management thank Mr. Mier for his twelve years of dedicated and fruitful service to the Bank.