Regional/ International

Christian Noyer, head of Bank of France, has rejected allegations that the country was preparing to inject about $20 billion inti the country's ailing banking sector which has been hard hit by the Greek debt crisis.

Bank of America, Nomura and HSBC have cut a combined total of 200 jobs in India; this is supposedly a prelude to expected massive layoffs in foreign banks across the Asian region due to a general slowdown in investment banking activities. 

Deutsche Bank is being sued by ABP, a Dutch pension fund, over claims that the fund had purchased residential mortgage-backed securities based on the bank’s supposedly misleading advice.

Middle East

Qatar’s Doha Bank has signed a remittance agreement with Turkey’s Akbank. This will allow Doha Bank’s customers to transfer money online from a Doha Bank account to an Akbank account in Akbank branches across Turkey, and will enable Turkish customers in Doha to remit funds to beneficiaries having accounts with any other bank in Turkey.

Bahrain’s Unicorn Investment Bank, an Islamic investment bank, has been renamed to Bank Alkhair. The Bank’s subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Turkey will now officially operate under the names Alkhair Capital Saudi Arabia, Alkhair International Islamic Bank Malaysia and Alkhair Capital Turkey respectively.

Arun Panchariya, the president of Dubai-based Euram Bank Asia, has resigned after being implicated in a stock trading scandal in India. He has also been stripped of his authorised individual status by the regulator for Dubai International Financial Centre after he was accused of trading irregularities by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Indochina

Vietnam’s VietinBank, in partnership with JCB International, has launched the VietinBank-JCB Premium Card, the first JCB branded card in Vietnam. The card is available in two forms, standard and gold.

The Vietnamese government has given permission to Bao Viet Holdings to purchase a stake in semi-private Bao Viet Bank to help the bank raise its capital to $151 million. 

Vietnam’s Sacombank has opened its first fully incorporated branch in Cambodia. Sacombank Cambodia is an upgrade of Sacombank’s branch, and has a chartered capital of $38 million. 

Taiwan’s Mega International Commercial Bank has opened its first branch in Cambodia.

South Asia

Union KBC Asset Management Company, a unit of Union Bank of India, will launch mutual fund-related transactions via ATMs. The service, named ATMfunds@Union Bank, will be available customers of Union Bank who have a debit card.

National Bank of Pakistan will be expanding its overseas network by opening three branches in the capitals of Sri Lanka, Russia and Tajikistan.

Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank has signed an agreement with Singapore’s DBS Bank to expand investment banking opportunities and enhance foreign direct investment into the island nation.

Australia/New Zealand

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to a private settlement with investors who lost money as a result of the actions of an adviser at the bank’s Commonwealth Financial Planning unit. The adviser has since been barred from providing financial services by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Bank of India has opened its first branch in New Zealand. The Auckland branch will offer retail and corporate banking services to local citizens and Indian expatriates. 

China

Chins Banking Regulatory Commission, the country’s financial regulator, has issues guidelines for the wealth management industry. The regulations, which come into effect on January 1^st 2012, include a bar on banks from falsely using wealth management products to attract deposits or lure customers. 

People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, has given the go-ahead to Bank of China Macau repatriate $547 million in renminbi that is has collected offshore back to mainland China, in an effort to internationalise the renminbi. 

Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has fined Citigroup $770,000 for failing to immediately report a Ponzi scheme carried out by an employee of the bank. The regulator said that the fraudulent scheme involved 13 clients. The bank says that the employee has been fired, and clients will be paid compensation.

Bank of East Asia has set up a programme that enables it to issue up to $3 billion worth of medium-term notes. HSBC will be the sole arranger of any issuance, while HSBC, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank will act as dealers.

Indonesia

Bank Danamon has raise about $564.4 million in a rights issue. The capital raised will help fund the bank’s expansion into micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

Budi Mulya, Bank Indonesia’s Deputy Governor, is currently being investigated for a personal loan he obtained from the previous owner of Bank Century. He obtained the loan worth $112,000 in October 2008 and returned it in January 2009. Mulya was relieved of his role as head of monetary policy operations as of the end of last month but retained the deputy governor’s post.

Japan

Japan’s three biggest banks received a combined $43 billion credit line from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to help finance domestic companies’ overseas takeovers as businesses seek to counter the strong yen.

Citigroup might shake up its top management in Japan following a regulatory investigation that found alleged problems with the bank's disclosures when selling financial products. Officials also are weighing the possibility of installing a chief operating officer for Citigroup banking operations in Japan.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group claims it remains committed to its "long-term strategic alliance with Morgan Stanley" despite the securities firm's sliding share price. The Japanese bank owns about a 22% stake in Morgan Stanley.

Korea, South

South Korea's $46 billion sovereign wealth fund is not planning to further raise its stake in Bank of America , after it said recently that it had reinvested roughly half of the $145 million dividend it received from the bank to boost its holdings in the U.S. financial firm.

Jeil Savings Bank, a local savings bank, now suspended for liquidity shortage, has been found to provide more than $126 million in illegal loans to hostess bars and other adult entertainment clubs in southern Seoul.

Malaysia

RHB Capital, Malaysia's fifth-largest lender by assets, has appointed Credit Suisse to advise it on its takeover of OSK Holdings investment-banking business. OSK is a stockbroker and investment bank, and buying its investment-banking business would give RHB a leg up in Malaysia's highly competitive banking industry.

AmIslamic Bank has issued the first tranche of subordinated sukuk, amounting to $188.3 million under the $627.8 million nominal value subordinated sukuk musharakah programme. The proceeds would be used for AmIslamic Bank’s general working capital, including refinancing its existing subordinated sukuk musharakah, and funding the growth of its Islamic financial services business.

The International Finance Corporation has partnered with Bank Negara Malaysia to train government practitioners to better understand and implement credit reporting and risk-management methodologies that help expand credit for micro and small businesses.

The Philippines

The Philippines has mandated 10 banks to manage its second retail treasury bond sale this year, with the government planning to complete the issue expected to be at least $1.1 billion this month.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is set to issue stricter rules on hedging instruments later this month, particularly nondeliverable forwards, to reduce market risks and tighten control on liquidity amid strong foreign capital inflows.

Pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) expects to complete the sale of its estimated $41.4 million thrift bank, GSIS Family Bank, by the end of this year as it reaches the close of deals with potential investors.

Singapore

United Overseas Bank (UOB) aims to double cross-border business loans in the next three years to tap growth opportunities as companies in the region expand. UOB expects cross border deals to make up 30% of its corporate loan book, up from about 15% now.

Japan's Nikko Asset Management Group and Singapore's DBS have struck an alliance deal that will create Asia's largest regional asset management firm. Under the deal, Nikko Asset Management Group has acquired DBS Bank's subsidiary in Singapore, DBS Asset Management, for $104 million.

OCBC has reportedly been attracting assets from the Singapore branches of French banks as the euro region’s debt crisis spooks wealthy clients. Defections from French banks, including BNP Paribas SA, helped generate net new money of about $4 billion for Bank of Singapore this year.

Taiwan

Hua Nan Bank, a subsidiary of Hua Nan Financial Holdings, signed a memorandum of understanding with China Merchants Bank for further cooperation, including partnerships in financial businesses, trade finance, establishment of for-profit organizations, and staff exchanges.

Thailand

The Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand have agreed not to tap the country's foreign reserves to establish a sovereign wealth fund, easing market concerns about government interference in the central bank.

The Islamic Bank of Thailand is awaiting clarification from government regulators on tax breaks for Shariah-compliant bonds before proceeding with the country’s first sale of baht-denominated sukuk.