a universal bank and was appointed the clearing house of the Makati Stock Exchange, now the Philippine Stock Exchange. PCIBank history PCIBank has a diverse and unique history. It was established in July 1938 as the Philippine Commercial Industrial Bank, with its head office in Dasmariñas Street, Binondo, Manila. In 1966, it moved its head office to the corner of T.M. Kalaw and A. Mabini Streets (building now demolished). In 1976, it merged with the Philippine Bank of Commerce and Merchants Banking Corporation, creating then the largest branch network. The 1980s was a very significant decade in the bank; in 1982 it officially decided to adopt the history of the Philippine Bank of Commerce, resulting in it becoming the first Filipino-owned private commercial bank in the country. It established its ExpressPadala Center in Ermita, and pioneered the remittance business in the country. In 1983, it decided to change the "I" in PCIBank from "Industrial" to "International", to reflect the wide foreign office network of the bank. In 1985, it merged with the Insular Bank of Asia and America. In 1987, John Gokongwei bought shares in the bank, becoming the second largest stockholder. He appointed Rafael Buenaventura to head PCIBank as President and CEO. PCI Bank has won a string of "Bank of the Year" awards from the editors of Euromoney and Asiamoney. The bank has also been cited for its export financing, specialized lending and consumer finance activities by the Philippine Export and Foreign Loan Guarantee Corporation, the Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Home Insurance and Guaranty Corporation. Addressing the various needs of its customers, PCI Bank set up subsidiaries to provide services ranging from leasing, investment banking and stock market transactions to credit cards, consumer loans, insurance, and overseas remittances. The 1980s proved hard for the Lopezes because all of their businesses were seized by President Marcos. To this day The Romualdez-Lopez dispute case still remains at court. Also in the 1980s, when Gokongwei entered PCIBank, he also owned Far East Bank and Trust Co, and talks of a merger surfaced which would have created the largest bank in the Philippines. In 1991, PCIBank formed BancNet along with Security Bank, Chinabank, RCBC, Allied Bank (merged with PNB), Metrobank, International Corporate Bank (now part of UnionBank) and Citytrust Savings Bank. BancNet was also the brainchild of one of PCIBank's senior officers, Ramon Arceo Jr., the Senior Vice President.