Regional/ International

A proposed settlement between Bank of America and investors in its troubled mortgage securities may result in tens of thousands of their most distressed borrowers evicted and losing their homes more quickly.

JP Morgan has agreed to a $228 million settlement against charges that it rigged nearly 100 transactions involving municipal bonds. It is the third, and largest, settlement reached with a bank in a continuing investigation into an alleged nationwide conspiracy to rig municipal-bond bidding processes.

Middle East

Tim Evans has been appointed head of trade and supply chain, for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by HSBC. Prior to this, Evans was regional COO of HSBC’s commercial banking business in the region.

Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi and India’s Bank of Baroda have signed a global partnership agreement under which latter will provide potential Kizad tenants with financial services and solutions, as well as support Kizads’ search for foreign direct investment.

Indochina

Vietnam’s central bank has allowed Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Singapore's United Overseas Bank to raise their respective stakes in two Vietnamese banks to the 20 percent ceiling for foreign ownership.

Vietnam International Bank is planning to raise its registered capital by 6.25% to $206m, and Vietnam’s central bank may be increasing its stake in VIB to 20%.

South Asia

State Bank of India will go for a combination of a follow-on public offer (FPO) of shares, a rights issue and a qualified institutional placement if the government decides to bring down its holding in the bank from the current 59%.

Indian Bank will be adding 400 new branches this fiscal, adding to the existing network of 2,184 branches. It also has six overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and representative offices in China, Vietnam, Dubai and Malaysia.

India's Dhanlaxmi Bank called off a plan to raise $65 million by selling a 19.6% stake at a premium to a group of investors after one of them backed out.

Citibank Pakistan and Hong Kong successfully executed the first-ever Sinosure (Chinese ECA) backed term trade financing transaction for Citibank in the Middle East and Pakistan region.

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

HSBC Corporation has appointed Peter Wong as chairman of its fully-owned subsidiary HSBC Bank (China), succeeding Vincent Cheng who retired from this position. The appointment has obtained regulatory approval and effective immediately.

Citibank has opened its first sub-branch in Chengdu, a smart-banking branch designed to provide a unique and superior banking experience to Citibank customers.

ICBC’s Shanghai branch has opened a mass transit railway (MTR) sub-branch, a special MTR bank of ICBC Shanghai. The sub-branch offers easy access to banking facilities along the MTR lines for urban residents.

Hong Kong

 Crédit Agricole (Suisse) has opened its booking centre in Hong Kong today following the updating of its restricted banking licence to a banking licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in March.

Bank of China (Hong Kong), the only clearing bank for offshore renminbi has begun investing in China's bond market, using funds held on behalf of others banks in Hong Kong, an incremental step by mainland authorities towards currency convertibility.

China Merchants Bank is expected to issue $1.5-$3 billion worth of H shares, raising funds to meet capital requirements.

Indonesia

Eight investors have expressed interest in purchasing 50% of Bank Muamalat, a major sharia bank. Standard Chartered, Qatar Islamic bank, Oversea Chinese Banking, OCBC Overseas and ING Baring Bank comprise the foreign investors involved. 

Indonesia's central bank has announced plans to curb the amount of shares an individual investor can hold in commercial banks, in a bid to make the banking sector more financially prudent. The new regulations could go into effect by the fourth quarter of this year.Bank

Danamon, Indonesia's sixth-largest lender and controlled by Singapore's Temasek, plans to launch a rights issue this year and will seek shareholders' approval on August 22nd.

Japan

Japan's top lenders, including Mizuho Corporate Bank and state-owned Development Bank of Japan, are considering extending a total of $6.8 billion in loans to Tohoku Electric Power, the utility serving the areas worst hit by March 11th’s earthquake and tsunami.

Mizuho Financial Group will launch a new group-wide HR division as part of its goal to address problems with reporting lines that have prevented the bank from operating as an integrated unit.

Katsunori Nagayasu, president of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association has said that banks are considering conditions for loan write-offs to people and businesses affected by the March 11th earthquake.

Korea, South

Exim Bank of South Korea has concluded an agreement with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to support Ethiopian agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing investment sector.

Woori Finance Holdings, KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, and Hana Financial Group will be reinforcing their insurance affiliates' sales networks and workforces as part of their efforts to diversify profit sources.

Korean private equity firm A&P financial, which took over failed consumer lender Takefuji in April, has plans to turn it around by reallocating branches and streamlining its work force, but also to take its business model to South Korea and China.

Malaysia

Exim Bank is on track to achieve its $332 billion loan disbursement target for this year with almost $166 million having been given out, with the remainder of the loan target to be achieved through a contribution to the Asian Development Bank trade finance programme

Public Bank, Malaysia’s third largest banking group by assets, will be marketing as much as $666 million of 11-year subordinated notes to raise working capital.

Bank Muamalat has allocated $18.6 million for branch renovations and relocations, which will commence from this year.

The Philippines

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has ordered the closure of the savings bank which the Local Water Utilities Administration acquired in 2008 using $18.2 million from its agency funds. Express Savings Bank has been placed under receivership.

Banco de Oro Unibank (BDO) has begun issuing and acquiring for China UnionPay in the Philippines and has agreed to open 10,000 POS terminals for UnionPay within one year.

The Philippine National Bank has announced the resignation of its president, Eugene Acevedo, effective at the end of this month and the appointment of banker Carlos Pedrosa as his successor effective  August 1st.

Singapore

DBS Bank has launched a new banking account for business start-ups, an initiative that will give the over 50,000 companies set up in Singapore each year greater convenience, better access to more affordable banking services, and a more value-added benefits.

HSBC has completed a pioneering renminbi transaction that enabled one of their customers, a commodities trader, to access renminbi funds from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s CNY Facility transaction under the bilateral agreement between the central banks of China and Singapore.

Taiwan

First Commercial Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding on business cooperation with China Merchants Bank, eyeing increasing economic interaction across the Taiwan Straits.

Mega International Commercial Bank, E Sun Commercial Bank and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank will be helping Kinpo Electronics to borrow the equivalent of $288 million in the form of a five-year loan of $150 million split equally into terms and revolving facilities and  $138 million in a term facility which would also mature in five years.

Hua Nan Financial Holding, a government-linked firm in Taiwan, plans to establish a leasing firm in China to better engage in Rmb-based businesses.

Thailand

The Bangkok branch of BNP Paribas has partnered with CIMB Thai Bank to provide cash management services. Under the agreement, BNP Paribas' local and multinational customers in Thailand will be able to access cash management services throughout CIMB Thai Bank’s branch network in the country.

Bank of China has launched its first UnionPay debit cards in co-operation with China UnionPay in Thailand. The cards will integrate both Rmb and Thai baht accounts to save costs stemming from currency conversions between the Rmb and Thai baht.