Keywords:

"Tests last July identified a capital shortfall of just $4.5b, yet less than six months later Irish banks alone required 10 times that."
George Osborne, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for tougher stress tests for European banks. 

The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, believed to be the UK’s highest-paid CEO, will be asked to waive his bonus again this year at Tuesday’s Treasury select committee meeting on compensation.

Citi will reportedly sell CitiFinancial, the largest consumer finance company in the US, for up to $1b.

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate and microcredit innovator, facing increasing pressure at home, has slammed Indian and Mexican banks’ model of commercial lending to the poor in his blog.

Nigeria's central bank has allowed its banks to trade in renminbi in response to growing trade flows with China.

The UAE central bank ordered lenders to resume acceptance of non-machine readable cheques, a measure introduced to mitigate rising fraud, after cases of panic when customers were turned away.

Japan’s Resona Holdings will raise $7.2b to accelerate the repayment of the $20.35b it still owes the government from a 2003 bailout.

Christina Ip, CEO of ANZ’s China operations, has resigned, yet another setback in the Australian bank’s strategy there; Ip is joining Singapore's UOB to handle Greater China strategy.

Taiwan’s FSC will coordinate with overseas regulators to force investment companies to disclose fees paid to banks that distribute their funds, to improve competition with local firms.

Vietnam’s central bank is considering raising reserve ratios for dong deposits to 7%, and for dollar deposits to 10%, to curb inflation.

Malaysia’s Maybank will buy a 44% stake of Kim Eng for $617m, but is seeking full ownership in the Singaporean brokerage firm, which is valued at $1.4b.

Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah is reportedly in talks to acquire Silkbank.
 
Australian banks are reviewing their fees for remittances to South Pacific islands after a report by the governments of Australia and New Zealand found them to be far higher than global averages.