Section 15May 23, 2008, Sec./Art. 15

A new sub-section is hereby inserted after Section 11 of the same Act, as amended, to read as follows:

"SEC. 11-B Corporate Structure and Powers. - The SB Corporation shall:

"a) be administratively attached to the Department of Trade and Industry and shall be under the policy and program supervision of the MSMED Council;

"b) have its principal offices in Metro Manila and whenever necessary, establish branch office in the provinces; and

"c) exercise all the general powers expressly conferred by law upon corporations under the Corporation Code, including those powers that are incidental or necessary to the attainment of the objective of this Act.

"For this purpose, the SB Corporation subject to compliance with the rules and regulations to be issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission, shall have the following functions and duties:

"a) Source and adopt development initiatives for globally competitive MSMEs in finance and business technologies;

"b) To extend all forms of financial assistance to eligible MSMEs. SB Corporation may also engage in wholesale lending. The SB Corporation shall be given two (2) years from the effectivity of this Act to comply with this requirement;

"c) Guarantee loans obtained by qualified MSMEs under such terms and conditions adopted by the SB Corporation Board of Directors;

"d) Hold, purchase, lease or otherwise acquire and own real and personal property, introduce necessary improvements thereon and to sell, mortgage, encumber or otherwise dispose of the same as may be necessary in the normal course of business;

"e) Formulate means and methods of accepting alternative collaterals and implementing alternative loan evaluation models;

"f) Apply for, receive and accept grants and donations from sources within and outside the country; and

"g) Hold, own, purchase, acquire, sell, mortgage, dispose or otherwise invest or re-invest in stocks, bonds, treasury bills, debentures, securities and similar forms of indebtedness of the government, its agencies and instrumentalities or any government financial institution."