Bank of Commerce

BankCom was founded on December 16, 1963 as the Overseas Bank of Manila (OBM) by Emerito Ramos Sr., with headquarters in Binondo, Manila. The bank has since evolved through different phases of growth.

In 1968, a bank run occurred at the OBM, which caused it to become the first commercial bank to be closed by the Central Bank (now Bangko Sentral) since the latter's establishment in 1949.

In May 1979, Atrium Capital Corporation was granted the right to rehabilitate OBM by the Central Bank, which gave it ₱100 million for financial assistance, while other firms such as Asia Pacific Finance Corp., Anselmo Trinidad & Co., and the Angara, Abello, Regala Law Firm assisted with the rehabilitation. By September, however, the Central Bank ordered Atrium to halt its negotiations with OBM's creditors and depositors, and pushed its deadline for reopening to January 1981.

The Overseas Bank of Manila was renamed the Commercial Bank of Manila (Combank), and began commercial operations anew on January 8, 1981, with Jose H.V. Ferro as president and Antonio P. Gatmaitan as chairman of the board. However, a day after Combank's reopening, a financial crisis began due to the sudden departure of textile businessman and banker Dewey Dee from the Philippines on January 9, 1981 with ₱700 million in unpaid obligations, which led to a liquidity crisis among banks. Combank's owner Atrium was deemed the hardest hit investment bank in the financial crisis, resulting in the Central Bank ordering its merger with two other firms: Apcor and International Corporate Bank, both of which are under Herminio Disini's conglomerate Herdis. Herdis' equity in Combank was soon bought by the Government Service Insurance System in early 1982, and by November 5, Combank was made a subsidiary of GSIS. In September 1984, Combank acquired Royal Savings Bank.

Bank of Boston, one of the oldest and leading banks in the United States together with a local investment group acquired ComBank in 1988. The bank was then renamed the Boston Bank of the Philippines.

In November 1991, the bank changed its official name to Bank of Commerce. With the buyout of Bank of Boston's majority interest in 1993, Bank of Commerce was placed under complete Filipino ownership. As part of its growth plans, Bank of Commerce acquired Pan Asia Bank and purchased selected assets and liabilities of Trader’s Royal Bank in 2001. These takeovers significantly increased the Bank’s presence in the banking industry.

In 2008, San Miguel Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), and San Miguel Corporation Retirement Fund, the registered retirement plan of SMC Group employees, became the controlling shareholders of Bank of Commerce. San Miguel Properties, Inc. has 39.89% of ownership and San Miguel Corporation Retirement Fund has 39.94% of ownership, as of December 31, 2019.

On January 16, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the extension of the corporate life of Bank of Commerce for another 50 years from December 16, 2013.