Regional/ International

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $175 million to resolve allegations it charged African-Americans and Hispanics higher rates on home loans even when they qualified for better deals during the housing boom.

Bank of China has opened its first branch in Stockholm, Sweden.

Middle East

Financial institutions in the UAE will conduct a full due diligence in compliance with a central bank circular to ascertain whether top-ranking Syrian politicians held any assets with them or had made investments through them.

National Bank of Fujairah has signed a strategic agreement with Oman Insurance Company that would see the bank distribute a comprehensive suite of insurance solutions through its distribution network.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ will be setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Istanbul, Turkey.

Indochina

Privately-owned Burma’s Co-operative Bank has started offering accounts in foreign currencies.

State Bank of India and United Bank of India will be re-entering Myanmar.

Taiwan’s Cathay United, Chang Hwa Bank, and Taiwan Cooperative Bank are awaiting approval from Cambodia’s regulatory body to set up branches in the country.

South Asia

Reserve Bank of India has released a database for locating bank branches that will give information about the location, population group, authorised dealer category and licence details of branches and offices of commercial banks.

An inquiry will be conducted against officials of National Bank of Pakistan who were reportedly involved in a $21 million loss related to the bank’s Karobar Scheme, which disbursed loans to SMEs and personal enterprises.

Australia/New Zealand

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is in the midst of conducting tests to launch banking services via Facebook.

Westpac is issuing $2 billion dollars’ worth of covered bonds. The bank’s deal of three-year notes comprises $1.5 billion of fixed-rate bonds and $500 million of floating-rate notes.

China

CBRC has published new capital regulation standards for Chinese banking. New standards monitoring liquidity risks will also be rolled out soon.

ICBC has concluded its planned acquisition of an 80% stake in Bank of East Asia United States. The deal marks the first acquisition of a controlling ownership in a US-based banking institution by a Chinese bank.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Monetary Authority has established a repo facility that is available to local banks which conduct business using renminbi and face liquidity problems. The facility will provide repo contracts to local lending institutions in exchange for collateral in the form of various debt-based instruments.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Securities and Futures Commission will offer more flexibility in their proposed new rules for over-the-counter derivative trading. They will allow banks the option to use a foreign clearer, provided it met certain regulatory requirements.

Indonesia

Bank Mandiri vice president Riswinandi has revealed that the bank plans to open branches in Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand, and is currently working with regulators in the countries where it aimed to establish new branches.

Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Darmin Nasution has said that the central bank will focus on ensuring security as part of regulations on branchless banking, with BI currently developing regulations to govern e-banking transactions and its security system.

The Indonesian Credit Card Association has revealed that Indonesian banks may establish a local credit card principle that processes transactions domestically to reduce cost as well as dependency on overseas services such as MasterCard and Visa.

Japan

Facing sluggish domestic loan demands, Sumitomo Mitsui, Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial Groups have formed teams in their respective banks to track the funding needs of South Korean firms looking to build chip factories and auto-assembly lines abroad.

The Financial Services Agency has ordered 12 banks and brokers in the country – including MUFJ, Nikko SMBC, Mizuho, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Citibank and Morgan Stanley – to review their internal controls for handling sensitive information and report back on the results within a month, as part of a crackdown on insider trading.

The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation has agreed to extend an export credit line of up to $30 million to ICICI Bank to be used to fund a variety of renewable energy projects. Other private Japanese institutions will also co-finance the loan, adding another $50 million to the credit line.

Korea, South

Kookmin Bank president Min Byung-duk has allegedly met Woori Bank’s labour union and proposed making a bid for the bank if the employees were in favour of the takeover.

The National Tax Service has turned down Lone Star Funds’ request for refunding a $343 million withholding tax on its sale of Korea Exchange Bank to Hana Financial Group earlier this year.

Bank of Korea has invested $300 million in China’s A-shares, under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor programme, to diversify its foreign reserves and strengthen financial cooperation between both countries.

Malaysia

National Bank of Abu Dhabi has opened a subsidiary in Malaysia, with the bank to bridge Arab business interest with Malaysia and promote bilateral trade and investments.

Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, and Andhra Bank have established a joint-venture banking entity in Malaysia, known as the India International Bank Malaysia. The bank will provide a full range of banking services to customers while facilitating trade and investments in the country.

OCBC Al-Amin Bank has launched three standalone, seven-days-a-week and day-and-night Islamic bank branches. Identifiable by the “Xpress” signs, the new branches operate from 10am to 10pm daily, and allows customer to perform banking transactions themselves through a self-service platform.

The Philippines

Korea Eximbank has set up a representative office in the Phillipines in anticipation of an expected rise in investments from South Korean firms who are keen on putting up operations in the country because of its positive economic growth prospects.

The Department of Justice has declared that the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has no authority to stop a planned merger between the Philippine National Bank and Allied Bank (both owned by businessman Lucio Tan), after PCGG sent letters to the SEC, BSP and PDIC, urging that they deny the merger application, as it would hinder the government’s efforts to recover a portion of Tan’s allegedly ill-gotten wealth.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas have started implementing enhancements to the Truth and Lending Act, with the new regulations to require banks to be more transparent when providing loan information to customers, protecting borrowers against misleading information about their loans.

Singapore

Nomura Holdings has appointed Gerard Yuen as head of Singapore coverage in its investment banking division, and will report to Southeast Asia investment banking chief Kelvin Ho.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has announced that it is ready to list, quote, trade, clear, and settle renminbi-denominated securities. Issuers listing renminbi securities on SGX can also choose to offer dual currency trading, enabling investors to trade the security in the renminbi or Singapore dollars.

Taiwan

The Financial Supervisory Commission plans to allow local companies to issue renminbi-denominated bonds through domestic banks’ offshore banking units to finance their operations in China, making it easier for local firms to raise funds.

Spanish bank BBVA has established its first branch in Taiwan and will focused on investment banking and the global market business, with the branch designed to meet the needs of Taiwan’s multinational corporations and institutional investors, especially those with interests in Latin America.

US private equity firm TPG Group has sold off its entire interest in Taishin Financial Holding for around $182 million.

Thailand

Bank of Thailand chairman Virabongsa Ramangkura has ordered the setting up of a special committee to manage its accumulated debt, with concern that the central bank’s credibility could be affected if the accumulated loss continued to grow unchecked.

UOB Thailand has teamed up with Bupa Health Insurance Thailand to promote health insurance products to the bank’s customers via its bancassurance channel, as the bank predicted the elderly to make up a higher proportion of the country’s population in the near future.