Regional/ International

Costs from faulty mortgages and shoddy foreclosures have topped $72 billion at the biggest U.S. banks as they near a settlement of a 50-state probe into the industry’s practices. The five largest home lenders during the real estate boom are negotiating a settlement said to be worth as much as $25 billion with state attorneys general.

The Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are being investigated by the Swiss authorities over allegations they manipulated the interbank lending rates which may have distorted the price of trillions of dollars of securities.
 

Middle East

In a series of recent top-level changes at Emirates NBD, the UAE’s largest bank by assets, deputy chief executive officer Abdul Wahed Al Fahim has resigned, following reports of the departure of Suresh Kumar, chief executive officer and member of the board of directors, Emirates Financial Services and Emirates NBD Capital.

The Qatar Financial Centre has hired Bob Wigley, the former chairman of Merril Lynch’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business, to help lure asset managers, who are growing increasingly concerned about looming regulatory changes in Dubai.

The government of Qatar is set to loan Sudan $2 billion as the country enters a phase of deep economic crisis that was compounded by the secession of the oil rich South less than a year ago.

Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest, is chasing investment banking business in Indonesia and may open branches “at the right time,” said Mudassir Amray, the head of wholesale banking.

Indochina

The Asia-Pacific Group will support Vietnam in preventing monetary laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, said the Banking Inspectorate and Supervision Department of the State Bank of Viet Nam.

The U.S. Ex-Im Bank will offer preferential credit support targeting Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises this year, said its chairman Fred Hochberg. In 2011, Ex-Im Bank authorized only about $1 million in financing to Vietnamese projects that used US goods and services.

South Asia

Allamanda Investments, a unit of Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings, is likely to sell more than half of its 3.46% stake in ICICI Bank. The stake sale, which is likely to take place via a block-deal, is being managed solely by Goldman Sachs.

Rapidly growing private sector lender, YES Bank has entered in to an agreement with Buldana Urban Cooperative Credit Society. The consortium will extend door step para-banking services to the customers.

DBS chief Piyush Gupta sees significant business opportunity in India and is keen on operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary in the country if tax impediments are addressed

Australia/New Zealand

Australia’s central bank is seeking help from information security providers to beef up its protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The Royal Bank of Scotland's Australian division is likely to emerge from a sale without its chief, Stephen Williams, following Mr Williams' alleged disclosure to staff that he plans to step down after the sale process is complete.

China

Citigroup has won approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to offer credit cards in the country through its Chinese unit, becoming the first non-Asian bank in China to do so. Until now, Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia was the only 'foreign' bank to offer credit cards in China.

The People's Bank of China has issued a statement to the effect that banks must provide loans to first-home buyers, the first clear call to support mortgage lending since it starting a policy tightening cycle to calm the property market two years ago.

The Shanghai branch of Bank of Taiwan may open in March or April at the earliest, said Chang Hsiu-lien, chairwoman of Taiwan Financial Holdings, parent corporation of the bank. Bank of Taiwan's Shanghai representative office had on December 27th last year obtained approval from the CBRC to set up a branch.

China's banking regulator announced Thursday the launch of a targeted crackdown on irregular practices in the sector to address public concerns. The move comes as illegal operations in the banking sector, which include arbitrary credit terms and service fees, have triggered widespread complaints across the country.

Hong Kong

Bank of Communications has stated that recent media reports which suggested it may have refinancing plans weren't based on information provided by the Chinese lender, who also said that it will make an announcement on a timely basis if it has any capital replenishment plan.

UBS has cut two members of staff from its ECM team in Hong Kong as part of 35 job losses at the bank’s Asia Pacific operations over the past few weeks. A member of the DCM team is also understood to have left recently.

Indonesia

Bank Negara Indonesia is in talks with Japanese investors who are seeking to buy a stake in its life-insurance unit. Japanese firms are looking to expand to faster-growing countries, and Indonesia remains a key interest.

Indonesia’s Islamic finance industry is luring investment from Middle Eastern and European banks as regulator seeks to double Shariah-compliant assets to 10% of the total this decade.

Indonesia's newest private-equity and financial-advisory firm, Yawadwipa Companies, has notified the government that it wants to acquire Bank Mutiara in a deal that could be worth more than $750 million.
 

Japan

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui are amongst 12 banks to come under investigation by Swiss authorities for possible collusion to have influenced the London interbank offered rate and the Tokyo interbank offered rate

Nomura Holdings returned to the black last quarter after selling a restaurant chain, but it may not be enough to reassure investors it can sustain an earnings rebound.

Korea, South

The Federal Reserve Board has approved Hana Financial Group acquisition of indirect controlling interests in two U.S. units of Korea Exchange Bank. Hana Financial is buying interests in KEB NY Financial in New York and KEB LA Financial in Los Angeles.

South Korea's top financial regulator urged lawmakers to ease rules for foreign investors that seek to buy into the country's financial sector, following the long-delayed completion of the sale of Lone Star Funds' stake in Korea Exchange Bank to Hana Financial Group.

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea plans to spend a record $62.7 billion this year to finance industrial activities and international development projects involving Korean companies.

Malaysia

Mizuho Financial Group has won approval from Bank Negara  to set up an international currency business unit. Group chief executive Yasuhira Sato said the unit would enable the lender to handle Islamic finance products denominated in foreign currencies.

The Philippines

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has approved the opening of over 100 new bank branches, hoping to improve accessibility of financial services in the country. Regulators said that with the economy now on a growth path, the need for financial services naturally would increase, and the establishment of more bank branches should address that need.

A top official of the Philippine Savings Bank has been ordered to submit to the impeachment court a written explanation on his refusal to bring documents of the dollar accounts of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Singapore

Maybank Singapore has just relaunched its Business Platinum MasterCard, which offers companies an additional line of credit, as well as an online expense management tool to keep track of all their business expenses.

Royal Bank of Scotland has dismissed Tan Chi Min, the former head of delta trading for RBS’s global banking and markets division in Singapore, for gross misconduct. He’s suing the bank over the dismissal and seeking to recoup $1.5 million in bonuses and 3.3 million RBS shares that he claims he’s owed.

Taiwan

Private equity firm Longreach Group is exploring the sale of its $440 million majority stake in Taiwanese lender En Tie Commercial Bank, as it seeks to cash out of the 2007 investment. Longreach has invited about eight investment banks to vie for a sale mandate.

Taiwanese banks are urging regulators to raise a cap on stakes Chinese banks can hold in them to 20% from 5% as they push to get a bigger share of the huge mainland market at a faster pace and offset a lack of growth opportunities at home.

Thailand

Bank of Thailand official expressed concerns over possible spillovers from the Greek debt crisis, as capital outflows are anticipated if the country could not refinance a huge amount of debt. Money would flow out of Thailand and other countries, as European banks would be required to recapitalise in the aftermath of such default.

The state-run Islamic Bank of Thailand has set a goal to be among the top three Islamic banks in Asia within the next five years. At present, Maybank Group is the largest Islamic bank in Asia, followed by CIMB Bank and RHB Bank. All three are based in Malaysia.