Regional/ international

US prosecutors joined a global crackdown on Zeus, malicious software being used to rob bank accounts across the world, charging 70 people allegedly involved in stealing more than $3m from dozens of bank accounts including at banks such as JP Morgan Chase.

Ireland has pledged to inject extra capital into its stricken financial sector as fears rise that the total cost to save its banks could rise as high as $68.3 bn, more than a third of GDP last year.

JPMorgan Chase will halt tens of thousands of foreclosures impacting 56,000 loans out of a pool of 10 mn after its employees admitted signing thousands of documents in foreclosure cases without having personal knowledge of their accuracy.

Piraeus Bank, Greece´s fourth-largest, has withdrawn a $957m offer to acquire majority stakes in two loss making state banks, claiming the government was taking too long to make up its mind.

Middle East

UAE lenders have ceased most of their transactions with Iranian banks that have been blacklisted by the US Treasury. While commercial payments and transfers with some Iranian banks are still ongoing, bank officials have assured both their regulator and the US Treasury that they are being extremely vigilant on all transactions.

HSBC will launch its first Shariah compliant exchange traded funds in the gulf region in an effort to lure international investors. Razi Fakih, deputy CEO of HSBC´s Islamic unit in Dubai said that investors will gain greater access to the region´s markets.

Swiss lender Falcon Private Bank expects to double its assets under management from $400 million to $1 billion in the Middle East in less than a year. The Dubai based unit of the Zurich led bank began its operations nine months ago and seeks to focus on the region´s high net worth individuals.

National Bank of Kuwait, the country´s largest lender by assets, has launched a rights issue that aims to raise capital by 10% to finance its expansion plans.

Indochina

The State Bank of Vietnam said that it would relax reserve requirements for banks that had provided substantial support for agriculture or rural development. The move is expected to give a fillip to lending to projects in the countryside. Banks that have 70 per cent or more of outstanding loans provided to rural and agricultural sectors would only be required to hold five per cent of normal reserve levels. Similarly, banks that have 40 per cent to 70 per cent of outstanding loans to the countryside would be required to hold only 20 per cent of the normal dong reserve levels.

Eight Vietnamese banks announced on September 28 that they have successfully linked up their point of sale (POS) systems. The banks are Vietcombank, Agribank, Vietinbank, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), Techcombank, VIB (Vietnam International Bank), SeaBank and Oceanbank. Eximbank and Saigonbank are expected to connect with this POS system in the near future.

South Asia

National Bank of Pakistan, the lender with the highest delinquency ratio about a quarter of whose lending is to framers, said the recent floods in the country will make bad loans surge hampering its five-year target to recover 80 percent of the NPLs it has provided for India´s state-controlled Punjab National Bank, will foray into microfinance in Nepal through Everest Bank, its joint venture unit there.

Bank of India has reportedly applied for a New Zealand banking license to operate as a locally incorporated subsidiary.

ICICI Bank, India´s largest private sector bank, has opened its first retail branch in banking hub of Singapore´s central business district, setting the stage for its next phase of growth in Singapore. The retail branch marks a major milestone in the Bank´s international presence and complements its seven-year-old operations. The bank has permission to set up to 25 places of business in the island country.

Sri Lanka´s central bank will halve the loan provisioning for the nation´s banks starting December 31 and launched a scheme to insure all bank deposits to guard customers against bank failures

Australia/New Zealand

ANZ declared that it will pay primary-caregivers around $3,913 (A$4,000) childcare allowance in a bid to improve gender diversity at senior levels. The bank hopes that the measure will encourage women to return to work after childbirth and increase the women in senior management positions.

The chairmen of ANZ and NAB said that Australians should save more in order to cut domestic banks' reliance on overseas fundraising. Higher savings would allow banks to reduce their dependence on foreign funding to address the current-account deficit that major lenders in the country face.

China

The China Development Bank, a financial institution under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council, opened its Moscow office last week.

ANZ Banking Group Ltd, the fourth-largest bank in Australia, began lending and banking operations in China on October 1st after its wholly owned ANZ Bank China received regulatory approval.

Hong Kong

DEUTSCHE Bank AG announced yesterday it has completed its first yuan debt offering with a 200 million yuan ($29.7 million) self-led deal, a step towards developing Hong Kong´s yuan debt market.

Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) has entered into a deal to acquire a dormant trading seat at the Philippine Stock Exchange, paving the way for its entry into the local stock brokerage business.

Indonesia

Permata Bank announced its plans to raise $224 million in a rights issue later this year in an effort to strengthen its capital base and expand its business. Bank mandiri, the country´s largest bank by assets, will launch its own rights issue next year after Bank Negara Indonesia.

Indonesia´s government has approved Bank Rakyat Indonesia´s (BRI) plan to purchase Bank Bukopin. BRI plans to merge Bank Bukopin with Bank Agroniaga, a small scale plantations lender it acquired earlier.

Bank Kesawan, a small Indonesian lender, plans to raise 730 billion rupiah ($81.72 million) in a rights issue which would lead to Qatar National Bank taking a controlling stake. Gatot Siswoyo, Bank Kesawan´s chief executive officer, told Reuters that QNB would be the standby buyer for the rights offering and would end up with an 82 percent stake in the Indonesian lender.

Japan

Failed Incubator Bank of Japan has received demands for refunds amounting to $550 million. The refund request is 7.8% of the bank´s $7.06 billion in total assets when it failed in September 10th 2010.

HSBC will be offering yuan-denominated depost accounts in Japan starting October 12. Customers will be allowed to open yuan savings or time deposits paying annual interests ranging from 0.1% to 0.5%.

Korea, South

Woori Bank CEO Lee Chong-hwi said in an interview that Korean banks should expand their investment in emerging markets. Lee also said that the appetite for investment banking should not be deterred by the recent losses from the sales of derivatives as they only represent one aspect of investment banking.

Kookmin Bank is set to separate its credit card unit, KB Card, from the commercial lender. The move is meant to strengthen the units capabilities and possibly regain marketshare after being taken over by other players such as Samsung Card, Hyundai Card, and rival lender offering Shinhan Card.

Malaysia

Bank Negara Malaysia has denied Ng Wing Fai , the managing director of Primus, a seat on the board of EON Capital, adding another blow to Hong Kong-based Primus Pacific Partners, which is holding a 20.2% stake in EON and is resisting a takeover bid from Hong Leong Bank. Primus is suing EON claiming the takeover is unlawful and EON directors are not acting in the best interest of the bank. The case itself has produced interesting revelations like the fact that Primus had borrowed money from Public Bank to partly pay for its stake in EON, although it was expected to bring in fresh money for the deal.

ING Insurance and Public Bank will set up their joint-venture company for family takaful business next year. Public Bank would hold a 40 per cent stake in the joint-venture with the balance 60 per cent to be held by ING Insurance.

Philippines

Asset leader Banco de Oro (BDO) has expanded its money transfer business network through a partnership with US lender Wells Fargo. The partnership gives BDO access to Wells Fargo´s 10,000 branches and 12,000 ATMs in the US and allows Wells Fargo account holders to send remittances to beneficiaries in the Philippines.

Metrobank and China Bank has extended a $27.7 million loan to the province of Laguna to finance water improvement projects in the region.

Singapore

DBS CEO Piyush Gupta has said that the bank seeks to grow its China presence to 50 branches from the current 16 units. He also said that the bank seeks to have their China units contribute between 5% to 10% of the group´s total revenue from the current levels of 2% to 3%.

OCBC Bank will merge its two Indonesian subsidiaries to better serve clients and save costs. The merger involves Bank OCBC Indonesia and Bank OCBC NISP. The merged entity, which will be the 7th largest private sector bank in Indonesia, will adopt the OCBC NISP name.

Taiwan

The Industrial Bank of Taiwan has received the go-ahead from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to set up a representative office in Tianjin, China, the bank said in an e-mailed statement.

Fubon Financial Holding Co expects its insurance unit in Xiamen, China, to start operations by the end of this year.

Thailand

Siam commercial Bank (SCB) is offering a pairing service to allow SMEs easier access to loans provided by private equity funds. SCB which tries to match the demand and supply in the market by providing financial support aims to increase its SME loan portfolio threefold to $9.9 million from $3.3 million.

The Bank of Thailand is looking to invest part of its foreign reserves in yuan-denominated bonds issued by the Chinese government, Assistant Governor Suchada Kirakul. She said the bank´s board has already approved in principle the investment in the Chinese bonds but the bank has yet to study the details and seek consent from the Chinese government.

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker