Regional/ International

HSBC is reportedly planning to reduce its workforce by 10,000 in a bid to cut costs. The bank has about 330,000 employees worldwide.

French banks have set aside about $22 billion to bailout the Greek government. This includes all the Greek bonds held by the banks that will mature in 2020.

Bank of America has named Hans Diederen as head of its Southeast Asia wealth unit. Diederen, who held a similar position at ABN AMRO, will be based in Singapore.

Middle East

HSBC Bank Middle East has named Hussain al-Abdullah as its head of retail banking and wealth management in Qatar. He will report to HSBC Qatar CEO Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi.

Greece’s EFG Eurobank is in initial discussion to sell a majority stake in its Turkish subsidiary Eurobank Tekfenfor about $260 million.

HSBC has started offering dedicated renminbi accounts at the bank’s branches across the UAE, enabling customers to receive and pay in renminbi without having to conduct any currency exchange transactions. 

Indochina

Nguyen Ngoc Bao, the central bank’s head of monetary policy, has been appointed as chairman of government-owned Agribank.

Vietnam’s Mekong Housing Bank has raised about $9.5 million through its recently conducted IPO.

A State Bank of Vietnam branch director has been accused of fraud. Ho Thai Nguyen , a director at the central bank’s Bac Lieu branch, had apparently faked his educational qualifications and was responsible for several wrongdoings relating to licensing credit fund offices

South Asia

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has approved the use of renminbi in cross-border banking transactions.

The State Bank of Pakistan has named Yaseen Anwar as acting governor, following the resignation of Shahid Hafiz Kandar after a disagreement over government policy.

Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, has opposed a government plan to allow more foreign banks and financial institutions entry into Bangladesh owing to the country’s already crowded financial services sector.

Barclays will be closing down its medium and small business division in India as the bank’s strategy of cross-selling investment banking and normal banking services in the country has failed to generate sufficient income for the division.

Australia/New Zealand

National Australia Bank has resisted pressure to enter a hasty bid for the 632 branches being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the sales process was accelerated by the bailed-out bank's new chief executive.

Macquarie Group, the Australian investment bank, has taken a $16.3 million charge to write down the value of its Brook Asset Management unit after the fund manager's fees dried up last year.

Commonwealth Bank will be opening branches in NSW and ACT bank holiday on August 1st to meet customer needs after the bank’s application to trade and provide services to its customers on the bank holiday Monday was approved by the NSW state government.

Deutsche Bank and Craigs Investment have been appointed as sole Crown Financial Advisor by New Zealand’s Treasury to provide advisory and project management services on the extension of the mixed ownership model of state-owned assets.

China

China Merchants Bank is planning to raise about $5.4 billion in a joint rights offer in China and Hong Kong.

China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the country’s banking regulator, has signed a complementary MoU which is aimed at enhancing crisis management between both countries.

CBRC has announced new measures aimed at speeding up village bank approvals. The regulator will now be responsible for all matters concerning the establishment of such banks, including choosing the founding companies and determining where the banks are established.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the country’s financial regulator, has eased rules relating to the trade of renminbi by local banks. Banks are now allowed to exclude market-making activities in the yuan bond market in calculating their renminbi-denominated open positions.

Indonesia

Maybank Islamic has signed a MoU with Bank Syariah Mandiri which is aimed at facilitating cross border transactions relating to Islamic treasury and trade finance.

Bank Indonesia is proposing a cap on foreign ownership in local banks that may reduce ownership to 50%.  Currently, foreigners may hold up to a 99.9% stake in local banks. 

Japan

Mizuho Financial Group is in advanced talks to buy a stake in Hanoi-based Vietcombank, with Mizuho's wholesale banking unit Mizuho Corporate Bank being the preferred bidder for a 15% stake in Vietcombank at roughly $500 million.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s Ryosuke Tamakoshi has taken a second seat on Morgan Stanley's board, reflecting its increased stake in the US investment bank. Tamakoshi was appointed to the operations and technology committee of the board.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will set up a $178.3 million fund to help smaller private owner-run firms and others rearrange their shareholder rosters or make other structural changes. The new fund will be launched by group member SMBC Venture Capital and its investment term will be around 7-10 years.

Korea, South

South Korea's financial regulator has stopped local financial groups' moves to dole out substantial amounts of dividends to their shareholders to protect customers and consumer, as well as helping to maintain enough loan loss reserves to brace against risks stemming from growing project financing loans and the Eurozone debt crisis.

Lone Star Funds’ former South Korea chief was taken into custody on concern that he may flee as a court battle threatening to derail the sale of its stake in Korea Exchange Bank escalated with a constitutional challenge.

Export-Import Bank of Korea will exercise its right to sell a 6.25% stake in Korea Exchange Bank on the same terms as U. private equity fund Lone Star's $4.1 billion sale to Hana Financial Group.

Malaysia

Maybank is planning to increase its number of branches in Indonesia by 120, increasing its total number of branches to 450. 

Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has allowed foreign banks to set up branches in Malaysia. Foreign Islamic banks are allowed to open branches anywhere in the country, while conventional banks can only operate a maximum of eight branches in cities.

HSBC is planning to open seven new HSBC Amanah branches this year, bringing its total number of branches to 16.

The Philippines

Starting August 12, stock corporations from La Union can file their application for registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission at the Land Bank of the Philippines San Fernando branch.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has approved revised guidelines on financial reporting that aim at making financial institutions more stable. Banks and other financial institutions have until January 2013 to adopt the revised Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS 9).

Singapore

UBS’s asset management division has set up a full-service fund administration unit Singapore to serve the Asia Pacific region, where hedge fund assets are set to increase by six times to $1 trillion by 2016.

ANZ, Citigroup, CIMB, Oversea-Chinese Banking, Standard Chartered, HSBC and United Overseas Bank, have been appointed to help the Housing and Development Board sell $332 million worth of fixed-rate notes.

UOB, the city-state's third largest banking group by assets, will be increasing the number of its private bankers to about 200 by 2016 from more than 40 currently, with an aim to grow its private bank's earnings asset base to in excess of $41.6 billion over the next five years.

Taiwan

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission has passed the preliminary review of an application from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a Spain-based international banking group, to upgrade its representative office in Taiwan to a full-service branch.

Taiwan Cooperative Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with China-based Bank of Communications to help it tap into China's banking market. Under the MOU, the two banks will work together to provide several banking services, such as renminbi exchange facilities, trade financing, syndicated loans, and corporate risk management.

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission has given permission for the offshore business units and subsidiaries of Taiwanese banks to conduct transactions in renminbi, so that Taiwanese companies operating on the mainland can now borrow renminbi from Taiwanese banks, while mainland investors can open renminbi accounts with the offshore units of Taiwanese banks.

Thailand

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) will be transferring around $337 million in total assets of Sicco onto its books around the third quarter of the year, after which SCB will de-list Sicco from the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

TMB Bank's will be focusing on debt refinancing for customers with unsecured loans and will expand its portfolio to $337 million by the end of the year. The bank's current unsecured debt outstanding is about $236 million combining personal loans, credit cards and cash cards.