Keywords: Jeffery Koo, Chinatrust Financial Holdings, Citigroup, HSBC, Peter Boyles, John Flint, SME Bank, Bank Of Namibia, BofA, Arshad Ghafur, Kookmin Financial, Hua Xia Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, EXIM Bank, ANZ, Bank Of The Philippine Islands, Mizuho Corporate Bank, RBI, SBI, ICICI Bank

"Nobody believes that any European institution would be capable of supervising 6,000 banks."
German Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schauble, demanding separation between the ECB's monetary policy and bank supervision.


The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

The Asian Banker mourns the loss of Jeffery Koo, founder of Chinatrust Financial Holdings and an icon in the region’s banking industry, who passed away aged 80 last Friday.

Citigroup will cut 11,000 jobs globally, close 84 branches including in Hong Kong and Korea, sell its consumer banking business in Turkey and other countries, purportedly saving $1b a year by 2014.

HSBC appointed Peter Boyles CEO of global private banking, while John Flint will replace retiring consumer and wealth management CEO Paul Thurston.

SME Bank obtained approval from Bank of Namibia to commence operations.

BofA named Arshad Ghafur head of Middle East and North Africa operations.

South Korea’s Kookmin Financial postponed a $2.1b acquisition of ING Life Korea due to concerns that liabilities from souring ING assets could eat into earnings.

China’s Hua Xia Bank denied relations with a failed wealth management product sold by an employee at Jiading branch in Shanghai.

Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank, India’s EXIM Bank and Australia’s ANZ will establish representative offices in Myanmar.

Bank of the Philippine Islands and Japan’s Mizuho Corporate Bank established a banking alliance to facilitate Japanese investment into the Philippines.

India’s RBI set up two supervisory bodies for SBI and ICICI Bank to ensure compliance of global prudential norms and reduce supervisory overlap.

Australia’s ANZ will invest $170m to upgrade offices in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and regional centres over the next four years.