[OR] [MBT] [E1] [C2] Understanding Your Organisation

Chapter 2

Understanding Your Organisation — Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (“Metrobank”)

Introduction

Understanding your organisation is a foundational step in building resilient banking operations in accordance with the international standard ISO 22316 (Organisational Resilience) and the local regulatory requirements of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for operational resilience.

This chapter provides a concise yet comprehensive portrait of Metrobank — its identity, structure, business model, key services, and strategic imperatives — that serves as the baseline context for designing, implementing, and sustaining a resilient operations framework.

Organisation Profile and History

Founding and early development

Metrobank was incorporated on 6 April 1962 (or, in many sources, first opened for operations 5 September 1962) to provide financial services in the Philippines.

Initially, the bank served the Filipino-Chinese community, and over time, it expanded to serve the broader market.

Its first branch opened at Plaza Calderon, Binondo, Manila in 1962 with a formal inauguration by President Diosdado Macapagal.

Milestones and growth trajectory

Over the decades, Metrobank achieved several significant milestones:

• Obtained a Universal Banking licence (1981) and was listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange that same year.
• Expanded its branch network domestically and globally (for example first international branch in Taipei in 1970, then Hong Kong, Guam, the U.S., and China)
• Diversified its services beyond traditional banking into investment banking, leasing and financing, bancassurance, credit cards, and consumer and corporate banking.
• By 2024-25, it will feature a substantial network of branches and ATMs, a robust governance and risk oversight framework, and a clear purpose statement of “Meaningful Banking from Good Hands.”

Mission, vision & values

According to its “Who We Are” page, Metrobank’s Vision is to be “the country’s premier financial conglomerate, empowering our individual and business clients to realise their goals and reach their full potential.”

Its Mission emphasises delivering meaningful banking, customised financial solutions, and community service leadership.

The bank’s promise, “You’re in Good Hands,” further highlights its focus on trust, reliability, and stakeholder value.

Organisation, ownership and governance

Metrobank is publicly listed and owned for approximately 47.9 % as of March 2025, with 37.2 % held by GT Capital Holdings, Inc., and 14.8 % by the Ty family and related parties.

The bank’s structure is organised as a universal bank with several business units and subsidiaries/affiliates operating both domestically and internationally.

Governance and oversight bodies, including the Board of Directors, principal officers, and committees, oversee key functions like audit, risk, IT steering, etc.

Business Model and Key Services

Core banking lines

Metrobank serves a full range of banking services across segments: large local and multinational corporations, middle-market SMEs, high-net-worth individuals, and retail customers.

Its product portfolio includes deposit-taking, lending (corporate, consumer, SME), trade finance, treasury operations, credit cards, leasing and financing, bancassurance, trust services, and investment banking operations.

Domestic and international footprint

The bank’s branch and ATM network covers a wide domestic footprint (900 + branches, 2,000+ ATMs) and an international presence through branches, representative offices, and affiliate operations.

The ability to serve clients locally and globally is part of its competitive proposition.

Stakeholder and value-creating agenda

Metrobank’s 2024 sustainability disclosures emphasise its economic and social value: in that year alone, the bank generated Php 182.3 billion in direct economic value, operational spending of Php 7.8 billion on local suppliers, employee investments of Php 24.4 billion, shareholder returns of Php 27.2 billion, and Php 27.7 billion in taxes.

The bank also contributes to community development projects (e.g., Php 152 million in 2024). These disclosures underscore Metrobank’s recognition that its business is embedded in its social and economic ecosystem.

Strategic Imperatives & Resilience Context

Strategic imperatives

Key strategic thrusts for Metrobank include:

• Expanding reach across customer segments and geographies.
• Deepening digitalisation and innovation to enhance service delivery and efficiency.
• Strengthening governance, risk, and compliance frameworks, reflecting its public-listed status and regulatory oversight.
• Enhancing sustainability and stakeholder value, recognising that banking is not solely transactional but also foundational in supporting infrastructure, SMEs, and inclusive growth.

Importance of operational resilience

Resilience is not optional in a universal bank operating in a dynamic environment (with macroeconomic shifts, technology disruption, cyber-threats, third-party dependencies, and evolving regulatory expectations).

For Metrobank, aligning with ISO 22316’s definition of organisational resilience — “the ability of an organisation to anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to incremental change and sudden disruption to survive and prosper” — becomes a strategic enabler.

Furthermore, the BSP’s recent issuance of the “Guidelines on Operational Resilience” (Circular No. 1203 Series of 2024) mandates all BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) to establish operational resilience frameworks (solo and group-wide as applicable) that integrate governance, identify critical operations and tolerances, map inter-dependencies, test scenarios, respond and recover, and learn from events

For Metrobank, understanding its own business model, critical operations, interconnections, and dependencies is the essential first step in embedding resilience.

Linking Organisational Understanding to Resilience Implementation

Identifying critical operations

Given Metrobank’s breadth of services (corporate banking, retail banking, digital banking, trade finance, ATMs, international branches, etc.), it is imperative to map out which of those operations are critical to the bank’s ability to deliver its value proposition and meet regulatory expectations.

For example: deposit-taking and payments clearing, ATM and branch availability, digital banking platforms, treasury functions, trade finance operations, and cross-border operations may be candidates for criticality.

Governance alignment

Metrobank’s existing governance structure (Board of Directors, risk oversight committee, IT steering committee, business continuity governance) should be leveraged and adapted to incorporate resilience oversight—consistent with ISO 22316’s emphasis on leadership, culture, and structure, and the BSP’s expectation that operational resilience be aligned with existing governance and risk frameworks.

Interdependencies and the external ecosystem

Operating in the Philippine banking environment, Metrobank’s ecosystem includes third-party service providers (e.g., payment system infrastructure, core banking software vendors, outsourcing partners), other banks and financial market infrastructure, regulators, and infrastructure (power, telecommunications, data centres).

Understanding how these interconnections can affect Metrobank’s ability to deliver critical operations under disruption is central to designing resilience.

Business continuity, risk management, and resilience synergy

While Metrobank likely has established operational risk management, business continuity management, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity frameworks, the operational resilience paradigm requires integration across these disciplines.

That means aligning risk identification, scenario testing, continuity planning, crisis response, recovery, and lessons-learned in a coherent and institution-wide model — anchored by knowledge of the organisation itself.

• Metrobank is a major universal bank in the Philippines with a broad service offering, strong governance, a long history, and a social-economic purpose.
• A clear understanding of Metrobank’s business model, key services, stakeholder commitments, organisational structure, and ecosystem is a prerequisite for building resilience.
• The resilience agenda under ISO 22316 and BSP’s operational resilience guidelines demands that Metrobank identify its critical operations, map its interdependencies, test and respond to disruptions, and embed oversight and learning.
• In the upcoming chapters of this guide — covering risk assessment, business impact analysis, scenario testing, third-party management, crisis response and recovery, learning and continuous improvement — Metrobank’s organisational context will provide the “foundation” on which those building blocks rest.

Gain Competency: For organisations looking to accelerate their journey, BCM Institute’s training and certification programs, including the OR-5000 Operational Resilience Expert Implementer course, provide in-depth insights and practical toolkits for effectively embedding this model.