PSE Circular for Brokers No. 2808-98

December 23, 1998 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 2808-98 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION SEC FORM 11-C CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 11 OF THE REVISED SECURITIES ACT AND RSA RULE 11(a)-1(b)(24) THEREUNDER 1. Date of Report December 21, 1998 2. Commission Identification No. 9248240 3. BIR TIN 480000509006 4. Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter URBAN BANK, INC. 5. Incorporated in Mandaluyong City, Philippines on July 8, 1980 6. Industry Classification Code 7. Address of registrant's principal office Postal Code Urban Bank Plaza, Urban Avenue, Makati City 1200 8. Registrant's telephone number: 844-1981; 878-0769 9. Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report not applicable 10. Securities registered pursuant to Sections 4 and 8 of the RSA Title of each class Number of shares of common stock outstanding or amount of debt outstanding asset backed securities worth P500 Million 11. Indicate the item numbers reported herein: Item 9 The Social Security Systems (SSS), the largest pension fund in the Philippines, invested into Urban Bank, Inc. (URB) through a special block sale at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), SSS has of late been investing in listed shares of strong companies. Its entry into URB affirms the Bank's strong fundamentals as a high growth bank whose capital accounts grew from only PHP20.0-million in 1980 to PHP2.8-billion by the end of 1997, for a compounded annual growth rate of 36% per annum. Previously rated by Hongkong-based Thomson BankWatch as Asia's best performing small bank. URB is the only domestic bank that has attained ISO 9001 certification for and in recognition of its leading-edge electronic banking technology. URB is the first internet bank in the Philippines. It is a niche player in private banking with an excellent track record of profits and dividends made possible by its hands-on and driven management. aisadc The equity investment of SSS with Urban Bank makes URB the most diversified in terms of institutional shareholder base. SSS joins San Miguel Corporation Retirement Fund, National Life Insurance Company, Dizon Copper-Silver Mines, Universal Motors Corporation RBI Fishing Company, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, GSIS, the Management Incentive Plan (MIP) of Urban Bank, the Bartolome Group and the Borlongan Group. The management group holds the controlling interest in URB. Edwin V. Fernandez, president of URB's investment banking affiliate Urbancorp Investments Inc. (UII), noted that "the visions of SSS and URB coincide in a high performance bank that is focused on private banking, housing, and automated systems." The partnership between SSS and URB brings to fore synergies in middle-income home financing and retail banking through the latter's soon-to-be-launched HomeCorp mortgage-backed certificates (MBC) stand its network of strategically-located regional branches. As a full-service commercial bank, it has redefined its market to focus on virtual banking and mortgage banking. On the other hand, SSS has embarked on a massive computerization program and recently won the Asian Management Award for Information Technology given by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Revised Securities Act, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. (SGD.) CORAZON M. BEJASA Corporate Secretary