Regional/ international

Citi has named Michael Eckhart as its new MD of the Institutional Clients division. Eckhart was previously the founding president and a member of the board of directors of the American Council on Renewable Energy.

Bank of America will sell its Balboa insurance unit to Australia’s QBE Insurance Group for $700 million in cash, in line with the bank’s plans to divest its non-core businesses to aid its recovery from the financial crisis.

The UK’s four biggest banks, namely Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, have signed an agreement  know as Project Merlin, in which the banks have pledged to make about $305 billion of new lending available to businesses. The banks have also agreed to smaller bonuses and will disclose remuneration offered to certain executives.

Wells Fargo has named Timothy Sloan, currently chief administrative officer and senior executive VP, as its new chief financial officer. The appointment is effective immediately.

Middle East

Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank has acquired a 10% stake in Amana Bank, Sri Lanka’s first commercial Islamic bank.

Kuwait’s Central Bank has requested local banks to disclose their liabilities, including the type of liabilities and risks that each bank faces in Egypt and Tunisia, following the political unrest in both countries.

Indochina

The State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, has decided that Agribank will operate as a government-owned One Member Corporation. As such, the bank’s charter capital worth about $1.06 million will be wholly owned by the government.

The National Bank of Cambodia has discovered four cases related to terrorism financing and money counterfeiting activities in 2010. The cases were discovered by the central bank when it was reviewing suspicious transactions which were reported by local banks in compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorism financing guidelines.

South Asia

Government-owned Bank of India has raised bonds worth $750 million from international markets. The first tranche, worth $250 million, matures in five years while the second tranche, worth $500 million, matures in 10 years.

The Kerala High Court has approved the creation of India’s first Islamic bank in Kerala, throwing out a petition that alleged the setting up of an Islamic bank breaches the country’s principle of secularism.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has instructed the State Bank of Pakistan to furnish details regarding bank loans amounting to about $636 million that were waived during the last two years, stating that the loans are public money and should be returned to the government.

Sri Lanka’s Union Bank is planning to raise about $3.4 million via an initial public offering. The bank will be issuing about 15 million ordinary shares. 

Australia/New Zealand

Australia’s big four banks are campaigning against the proposed implementation of a tax on excess bank profits, arguing that the proposal may cause banks to pass on the tax to customers in the form of increased banking charges.

ANZ has named Mark Whelan, currently MD of institutional, commercial and private bank businesses in Asia Pacific, Europe and America, as its new MD of commercial banking, Australia. He will be reporting to ANZ Australia CEO Philip Chronican.

India-based Bank of Baroda New Zealand has officially inaugurated its branch in Auckland, New Zealand. The Auckland branch will offer a complete range of banking services including remittance facilities to India.  

China

BOCOM International, a subsidiary of Bank of Communications, is planning to launch a renminbi fund in Hong Kong in the first half of 2011.

ICBC is in discussions with Thailand’s finance ministry to purchase a 26% stake in TMB Bank.

The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, is planning to launch a new money supply indicator to help determine the financing issued by local financial institutions.

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the country’s financial regulator, has received approval from the People’s Bank of China to invest about $2.28 billion in the mainland’s interbank bond market.

Indonesia

Bank Indonesia will be issuing a directive in March requesting all banks to begin using debit cards with chips. The central bank has set 2016 as the deadline for all banks to convert existing debit cards using magnetic strips to debt cards with a chip.

Bank Indonesia has denied reports alleging that Singapore’s DBS bank may purchase a 67% stake in Bank Danamon worth $3.8 billion from Temasek, Singapore’s government-owned state investment firm.

Japan

Sumitomo Corporation has hired Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to provide it with a $363 million five-year term loan. 

Korea, South

Woori Bank has reached a deal to sell 20% of BC Card, its credit card business, to KT Corporation, a telecommunications provider. The bank has the option of buying back part of the 20% stake if KT Corporation decides to independently embark on the credit card business in the future.

KDB Financial Group will be pushing the government for an early privatization of the group, which includes Korea Development Bank, despite widespread belief that its sale may be put on hold government-owned Woori Financial Group is sold. 

The Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service, the country’s financial regulators, may suspend Deutsche Bank’s local unit for six months over market manipulation and irregular transactions which is linked to a 3% plunge in the Korean stock market on November 11th 2010.

Malaysia

Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has registered as a foreign institutional investor in India. This will allow the bank to purchase rupee-denominated debts and bonds issued by the Indian government and Indian companies.

Bank Negara Malaysia has instructed local Islamic banks that are operating as subsidiaries or units to install firewalls and ensure separation of funds in order to comply with Shariah requirements.

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia has linked its ATMs with the Malaysian Electronic Payment System’s (MEPS) network of ATMs, allowing its customers to conduct transactions at all MEPS ATMs across the country.

Philippines 

Amanah Islamic Investment Bank, the country’s lone Islamic bank, has appointed Enrique Bautista as its new chairman and CEO. He replaces Armando Samia who has rejoined government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines.

Singapore

DBS Group has launched a new product that enables individual clients to purchase and deposit yuan from Hong Kong’s offshore market using accounts that have a minimum of $40,000.

Taiwan

Mega International Commercial Bank is planning to set up its first Chinese branch in Suzhou city during the second quarter of this year.  The bank has received permission from Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission to convert its Suzhou representative office into a branch.

Thailand 

Bank of Thailand, the country’s central bank, unveiled plans to protect the country against future financial shocks by stabilizing financial institutions, diversifying risks to avoid corporate loan concentration, enhancing consumer protection, focusing on basic infrastructure development and adjusting to the dynamic business environment.