Cesar V. Purisima

Filipino, 64 years old, was elected as independent director of BPI in January 2021. He is the chairman of BPI’s Nomination Committee, and member of the Executive, Risk Management and Audit Committees. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of BPI Capital Corporation.

Mr. Purisima also currently serves as an independent director of Ayala Corporation, Ayala Land, Inc., Universal Robina Corporation, and Jollibee Foods Corporation. He is also a founding partner of lkhlas Capital Singapore Pte. Ltd., a pan-ASEAN private equity platform. He is a member of the board of AlA Group Limited, a member of the Global Advisory Council of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, a member of Singapore Management University's lnternational Advisory Council in the Philippines and member of the Board of Advisors of ABS-CBN. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the the International School of Manila. He is an Asia Fellow at the Milken Institute, a global, non-profit, non-partisan think tank. He is a member of the Bloomberg Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health since 2024.

Mr. Purisima served in the government of the Philippines as Secretary of Finance and chair of Economic Development Cluster of the President’s Cabinet from July 2010 to June 2016 and as secretary of Trade and Industry from January 2004 to February 2005. He also previously served on the boards of a number of government institutions, including as a member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Governor of the Asian Development Bank and World Bank for the Philippines, Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund for the Philippines, and chairman of the Land Bank of the Philippines. Under his leadership, the Philippines received its first investment-grade ratings. He was named Finance Minister of the Year seven times in six consecutive years by a number of publications, a first for the Philippines. Prior to serving the government, Mr. Purisima was the chairman & country managing partner of the Philippines’ largest professional services firm SGV & Co.

He was a recipient of Centenary Award of Excellence by the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy on the occasion of the 100th year of the Philippine accounting profession in 2023. He was conferred the Chevalier dans I'Ordre national de Ia Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour) by the president of the French Republic in 2017, the Order of Lakandula, Rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) by the president of the Philippines in 2016, and the Chevalier de I'Ordre national du Merite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) by the president of the French Republic in 2001.

Mr. Purisima is a certified public accountant and has extensive experience in public accounting both in the Philippines and abroad.  Mr. Purisima obtained his Bachelor of Science in Commerce (Majors in Accounting & Management of Financial Institutions) degree from De La Salle University (Manila) in 1979, Master of Management degree from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University in 1983 and Doctor of Humanities honoris causa degree from Angeles University Foundation (Philippines) in 2012. Mr. Purisima completed the Harvard Business School’s CEO Harvard Presidents’ Seminars in 2023 and 2024.