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"They have plenty of capacity to lend"   
US FDIC chairman Sheila Bair, dismissing banks' claims that the new capital surcharge on large banks released by the Basel committee last weekend will raise the cost of credit and deter economic growth.


The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

Bank of America may sell half of its $21b stake in China Construction Bank in a bid to raise its capital for upcoming regulations.

UK's Lloyds Banking Group CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio will this week announce his $1.6b cost cutting measures which are expected to streamline operations and axe up to 15,000 jobs.

UAE's First Gulf Bank has raised its foreign share ownership limit to 25% from 15%, three years after it lowered it from 30% in 2008 due to the regional credit crisis.

Taiwan Cooperative Bank is set to open a branch in Cambodia and Australia by year end as part of its expansion strategy in the region.

Korean regulators declared Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank insolvent; the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation is in talks with Kookmin and four other large banks to buy three other troubled firms.

Malaysia's Maybank and CIMB have scrapped merger plans with RHB Capital due to the more expensive price tag, ending separate bids to create southeast Asia's largest bank by market value.

Pakistan's MCB Bank is set to open its first branch in Iraq by year end.

Australia's parliament passed credit card reform laws that ban unsolicited credit limit upgrades and scale back other fees, trimming an estimated $225m in annual income.