By Eileen A. Mencias

Bankard Inc., a subsidiary of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., sold all its shares in Visa Inc. to Bank of Nova Scotia at a discount, Bankard said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

Bankard said it sold 41,812 common class C shares of Visa to Bank of Nova Scotia at an 11.75 percent discount, or at $55.35 per share.

Bankard said the shares were transferred to the books of Bank of Nova Scotia on Dec. 23, 2008, adding that it would receive the proceeds of roughly P107.6 million on Jan. 15 via wire transfer.

Visa Inc. issued 95,431 shares to Bankard for the local company?s volume contribution.

Bankard sold 53,619 shares in the first quarter of 2008 for $42.768 per share or a total of $2.29 million.

Visa shares peaked to $57.42 on Jan. 6 from $53.78 on Dec. 23. They were trading at $52.96 a share yesterday.

Bankard focused on the credit card business before shifting its main business to providing RCBC with marketing, distribution, technical, collection and selling assistance and processing services.

Bankard is a licensee of Mastercard, JCB and VISA.

Bankard reported a phenomenal jump in net profit to P173.1 million in the first quarter of 2008 from P4.8 million a year ago due to a one-time income from the initial public offering of Visa.

Bankard received 95,431 shares of Visa under its past volume contribution under its restructuring. Only 53,619 shares are subject to a mandatory redemption at $42.768 per share, or $2.29 million. The balance is covered by a three-year holding period.

Bankard is controlled by RCBC, which bought it from Equitable PCI Bank in 2000. RCBC sued Equitable PCI Bank for P810 million two years later over disagreements on valuation.

In 2007, the Arbitral Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled that RCBC was entitled to damages from its purchase of Bankard from Equitable PCI Bank.

Banco de Oro, which bought Equitable PCI last year, is exhausting all legal remedies to obtain a reversal of the decision.

RCBC wanted to rescind the sale and get compensation for the money it paid to Equitable PCI with damages. BDO claimed that the tribunal had ruled against the rescission of the share purchase agreement.

RCBC attempted to sell Bankard to GE Consumer Finance two years ago but the latter backed out.