Keywords: Muliaman Hadad, OJK, FDIC, Thomas Hoenig, Lloyds Banking Group, Co-operative Group, Union Of Arab Banks, BoT, Siam Commercial Bank

"No one should be left behind."
Muliaman D. Hadad, chairman of Indonesia’s Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (Financial Services Authority), on the country’s policy for giving banks from ASEAN countries access to their banking system.

The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

FDIC vice chairman Thomas Hoenig, at the recent Asian Banker Summit, said that policies aimed at bringing unemployment levels to below 6.5% saw instead a rise to above 10%. Read his speech here.

Lloyds Banking Group’s planned sale of over 600 bank branches to the Co-operative Group collapsed after the latter pulled out of a $1.15b deal.

Kenyan mobile money customer deposits totalled $2.7b as of December 2012, with the number of customers increasing 10% YoY to 19.8m.

Total assets held by banks in the Arab world will hit $3t in 2013, up 13% from $2.6b in 2012, according to the Union of Arab Banks.

South Korean banks’ overseas earnings shrunk 11.8% YoY to $636m in 2012, compared with $721.6m in 2011.

Asian Banker Research found commercial banks in China recorded a net profit growth of 18.9% in 2012, down from 36.3% in 2011. Click here for more.

NPLs in the Vietnamese banking system is estimated at $5.72b at end 2012, accounting for more than 10% of total outstanding loans and an estimated 17% of the country’s GDP.

Thailand’s BoT allowed Siam Commercial Bank to lend 60% of its Tier 1 capital to fund retailer CP All’s $6.6b acquisition of Siam Makro, the country’s largest M&A deal.

World Bank data indicates that $69b was remitted to India in 2012, representing an 8.3% YoY growth.

Australian banks’ exposure to Asia rose to $117b in 2012, up 300% from $27.8b in 2007 due to growing trade finance and foreign exchange deals within the region.