KB Kookmin Bank sued over Indonesian acquisition; Japan, Shenzhen bourse link up

TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

* South Korea's KB Financial Group Inc. said in a filing that Indonesia's PT Bosowa Corporindo filed a lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court against its subsidiary, KB Kookmin Bank, and Indonesia's Financial Services Authority over the bank's acquisition of PT Bank Bukopin Tbk. The company is seeking about 1.630 trillion won in damages.

* Japan Exchange Group Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to develop Japan-China ETF Connectivity for cross-listing of exchange-traded funds.

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Amid the pandemic, most governments are aware that microlenders play an essential part in providing capital to the unbanked segments of the population.

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2020 ended with 44 U.S. corporate bankruptcies claiming at least $1 billion in liabilities, the most in any single year since 2009.

EARNINGS SPOTLIGHT

* India-based Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. said its consolidated fiscal third-quarter profit after tax grew to 26.02 billion rupees for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2020, from 23.49 billion rupees in the prior-year period. EPS rose to 13.14 rupees from 12.28 rupees.

BANKING

* Bank of Ayudhya PCL appointed Kenichi Nishii head of global markets group, effective Jan. 1, succeeding Tak Bunnag who retired from the post, Thailand's Daily News reported.

* PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk's Senior VP for Wealth Management Elina Wirjakusuma set a 1.5 trillion rupiah sales target for retail government bonds series 019, Bisnis Indonesia reported. The three-year bonds are offered at a coupon rate of 5.57% per annum.

* President Joko Widodo announced that the merger of three state-owned Islamic banks — PT Bank BRIsyariah Tbk, PT Bank Syariah Mandiri and PT Bank BNI Syariah — will be completed by February, creating Bank Syariah Indonesia, the country's largest Islamic bank, Jakarta Globe reported.

* Shareholders of India-based Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd. approved the appointment of JK Shivan as its next managing director and CEO, Financial Express reported citing sources.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Smart wallet service provider Line Pay Taiwan Ltd. plans to collaborate with 10 banks in Taiwan to provide personal loans to consumers, with the lenders setting the interest rates and approving loan applications, Taipei Times reported. Jko Fintech's Jko Pay is also planning to provide lending services in collaboration with banks.

* U.K-based TransferWise Ltd. will enter the Japanese market for international debit cards, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported, citing the head of the Japanese operations.

* Pichet Sithi-Amnuai and Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn were elected as new members of the Stock Exchange of Thailand's Board of Governors, the exchange said in a release. Their three-year term will start Feb. 5.

* Philippine National Bank said it received approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for its planned additional equity investment in its PNB Holdings Corp. unit.

* India-based Home First Finance Co. India Ltd.'s IPO was subscribed 26.65x on its last day of bidding, Mint reported.

POLICY AND REGULATION

* South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service is set to order banks that sold Lime Asset Management funds to provide compensation to investors who were victims of the massive fraud, The Korea Herald reported citing officials.

* The Reserve Bank of India said it is exploring the possibility of issuing a digital version of the rupee as well as how it will get into circulation, Mint reported.

* The Reserve Bank of India is said to have extended special liquidity assistance worth 70 billion rupees to DBS Bank India Ltd. to meet its short-term funding requirements after it acquired Lakshmi Vilas Bank, The Economic Times reported.

* The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates fined India-based Bank of Baroda approximately 135.6 million rupees for deficiencies in compliance with anti-money laundering rules. The bank said it has been undertaking measures to improve compliance with laws.

* Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said the regulator will closely examine deals involving big Australian banks' plans to acquire financial technology rivals, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Sims said it is important for consumers that the big banks do not swallow up potential digital challengers.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

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Eden Estopace, Emily Lai, Jonathan Cheah, James Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.

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