Of Counsel
Atty. Antonio V. Viray is a corporate lawyer-banker whose experience spans almost six decades.
After graduating as Valedictorian in Associate in Arts from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, he finished his law studies from the Faculty of Civil Law of the University of Santo Tomas, leading his class as Magna Cum Laude. He passed the 1961 bar examinations, earning a place in the top twenty passers. After two years of trial practice, he went to the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., to obtain a Master of Laws Degree under a Ford Foundation Fellowship Grant.
He has had a long working relationship with our Firm, having started his legal career as a litigation lawyer for Feria, Feria, Lugtu & La’O. He later embarked on a 22-year stint as a thrift banker, from which he retired as Senior Vice President of the Philippine Savings Bank (PS Bank). Following the acquisition of PS Bank by the Metrobank Group, he was recruited as General Counsel of Metrobank. Later he became a Senior Vice-President, Corporate Secretary and member of the Board of Directors. He rejoined the Firm upon his retirement from Metrobank.
Atty. Viray worked for the unification of the three thrift banks associations, namely, the Savings Bankers Association, Stock Savings & Loan Association and the Private Development Banks Association, leading to the organization of the present Chamber of Thrift Banks, which he incorporated. At one time, he was secretary or chairman of the Technical Committees of the Savings Bankers Association and Chamber of Thrift Banks, collaborating in the formulation and drafting of regulatory issues.
He was elected President of the Bank Administration Institute, now the Bankers Institute of the Philippines (BAIPhil) the association of bank executives, of which he is currently the Chief Legal Adviser, a position he has held for at least a decade. He was also the first president of the Association of Bank Lawyers.
To share his experience in legal banking, he authored four books, namely Handbook on Bank Deposits, Casebook on Banking, Checks, and Legal Essays on Banking.
Aside from being Of Counsel of the Firm, Atty. Viray is also the present Corporate Secretary of Global Treasures Holdings, Inc., Grand Titan Holdings, Inc., and GT Capital Holdings, Inc.
He also held the positions of Chairman of the Board for the Panay Power Corporation, Toledo Power Company, ARB Power Ventures, Inc., AVON River Holdings Corporation, Mirant (Phils) Island Generation Corporation, and Claredon Tower Holdings, Inc. He was also a Board Director for Solidbank Corporation, Baywatch Realty Corporation, and Grand Estate Development Corporation.
His corporate experience includes the creation of the joint ventures of Toyota Motor Philippines, Philippine AXA Insurance, Metrobank Card Corporation, and the merger and acquisition by Metrobank of Philippine Banking Corporation, Solid Bank, Asian Bank and Global Business Bank.