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Biweekly Country Updates
The following is our selection of the most important local developments at country level, collated once every two weeks.
Country Updates, January 31st 2011
Regional/ international HSBC has denied reports alleging that its CEO Stuart Gulliver has shelved plans to relocate to Hong Kong from London. Josef Ackermann, head of Germany’s Deutsche Bank, will be ending his term in 2013. Anshu Jain, who heads the bank’s investment unit, is seen as a leading contender to replace Ackermann. United Arab Emirates’ Dubai Islamic Bank has named Al-Gebali, previously CFO at Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank, as CFO. He replaces Mohamed Al Sharif who was appointed as CEO of DIB Capital, the bank’s investment banking unit. Qatar National Bank is planning to raise about $3.5 billion in a rights offer to increase its core capital. Turkey’s financial regulator, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, has given permission to Turkish banks Albaraka Turk and Bank Asya to open new branches in northern Iraq. Vietnam’s Vietin Bank will be selling a 15% stake to Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter of 2011. Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank has increased its registered capital by 50%, to about $153.9 million. The Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have signed an agreement for a renminbi loan that seeks to benefit both parties. Laos’ Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao, the first bank to be listed on the Lao Securities Exchange, will be expanding its services to include corporate and private banking services. The Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, has directed cooperative banks to limit their home loans to 5% of their total assets. Cooperative banks were previously allowed to offer home loans worth 10% of their total loans and advances. The Reserve Bank of India, in a bid to curb card-related fraud, has directed banks to switch to chip-based ATM cards, and to upgrade their ATM machines. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance has approved Amana Bank’s application to operate as the country’s first Islamic commercial bank. Steven Fyfe, deputy CEO of New Zealand’s ANZ National Bank, will be retiring. His replacement has yet to be announced. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is requesting permission from the government to authorize it to stop banks from signalling their interest rate intentions, amid concerns that banks can kill their competition by signalling their rate intention to rivals. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the country’s central bank, has instructed local banks to limit their issuance of covered bonds to 10% of their total assets. Government-owned China Development Bank is one of four final bidders to purchase a stake worth $13 billion in ailing German bank WestLB. ANZ has appointed Charles Li as its new CEO for China, replacing Christina Ip who has resigned. Li was previously country executive and head of global banking markets for China at RBS. Hua Xia Bank Corporation, which is 17% owned by Deutsche Bank, has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to raise about $3.2 billion via a private placement. 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. Bank Indonesia, a member of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), is seeking approval from the Indonesian parliament for $5 million in capitalization funds. The funds will be used by IILM to develop Islamic banking in Indonesia. Indonesia’s Eximbank is planning to issue global bonds worth $150 million. Distressed debt provider Lone Star and Advantage Partners, a Tokyo-based private equity group, are in further discussions to take control of ailing Tokyo Star Bank. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has appointed Koichi Miyata as its new president, while its subsidiary Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has named Takeshi Kunibe as its new president. Both appointments are effective April 1st 2011. Woori Finance Holdings, Shinhan Financial Group and Hana Financial Group are expected to submit bids for ailing bank Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank. Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, the country’s financial regulator, had earlier suspended the bank for failing to meet regulatory capital requirements. The Financial Supervisory Service is planning to conduct regular assessments of local and foreign banks’ foreign exchange positions in an effort to monitor currency risks. Government-owned Export-Import Bank of Korea has raised about $484 billion by selling bonds in Japan. The cash raised will be used for trade finance purposes. Maybank and RHB Bank have both entered separate partnerships with Pos Malaysia, the country’s postal services unit. The partnerships will enable Pos Malaysia to offer selected services from both banks at its branches across the country. Bank Muamalat, an Islamic bank, is planning to open six new branches in 2011, increasing its total number of branches to 62, from 56. Each branch will cost approximately $490,000. Hong Leong Bank has closed three renminbi trade transactions with China’s ICBC, the first renminbi trade settlements conducted by a local Malaysian bank with China. Amando Tetangco, governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country’s financial regulator, will be given a new six-year term by the Philippine president when his current term expires in July 2011. Metrobank is planning to expand its presence in China by opening 20 more bank branches over the next five years. The bank currently has two representative office and two bank branches in China. Standard Chartered Bank will be purchasing the Singapore subsidiary of GE Money, a unit of GE Capital which specializes in car and personal loans. The purchase will enable the bank to expand its presence in the car financing sector. Standard Chartered Bank is planning to launch renminbi-denominated products, including bond issues, in Singapore. United Overseas Bank has entered a partnership with India’s IndusInd Bank to provide remittance services to India, allowing corporate clients to transfer money from Singapore to over 60,000 different bank branches across India via a new service called UOB Direct Pay. Taiwanese banks are awaiting regulatory approval for permission to allow their Hong Kong branches to underwrite renminbi-base bonds and conduct reniminbi-denominated wealth management transactions. Currently, Taiwanese bank branches in Hong Kong are only allowed to accept renminbi-based deposits and manage renminbi-based currency exchange for trading operations. Thailand’s Ministry of Finance will be selling a percentage of its stake in government-owned Krung Thai Bank. Government-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand is planning to issue Islamic bonds worth $164 million this year.
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