TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
* Singapore Exchange Ltd. and The Shanghai Stock Exchange Ltd. unit China Investment Information Services agreed to distribute the Singapore bourse's securities market data within mainland China. China Investment Information Services commenced distribution of key SGX securities data to market data vendors, brokers and media channels Nov. 1.
* Capital Small Finance Bank Ltd. filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities Exchange Board of India for an IPO consisting of an offer for sale of up to 3.84 million shares by existing shareholders and promoters and a fresh issue of equity shares worth 4.5 billion rupees.
➤ More sovereign green bonds expected as nations brandish green credentials
Governments sold a record $26.46 billion of green bonds in the third quarter of 2021, helped by the U.K. — the host of the Climate Change Conference of the Parties — selling a debut green gilt ahead of the event.
➤ Major Chinese banks increase loan loss provisions amid slowing economy
Five out of the six largest state-backed Chinese lenders increased their provisions against bad loans and other assets in the third quarter, highlighting the uncertainty on credit risk ahead as the world's second-largest economy slows.
➤ Westpac facing margin pressure as mortgage book shrinks
Westpac's net interest margin fell 4 basis points to 2.04% from 2.08% a year earlier, primarily due to compression on lending from shifts in the mortgage portfolio to lower margin fixed-rate loans.
BANKING
* China-based Ping An Bank Co. Ltd. received approval from the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to issue up to 30 billion yuan of Tier 2 capital bonds.
* Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank and Affinity Investment Fund signed a $300 million financing agreement to support firms with programs that meet environmental, social and governance and sustainable development criteria, Viet Nam News reported.
* India's Unity Small Finance Bank, set up by Centrum Financial Services Ltd. and Resilient Innovations Pvt. Ltd., commenced operations with total assets of 24 billion rupees and a capital base of 11 billion rupees, Business Standard reported.
* The Reserve Bank of India empaneled Bandhan Bank Ltd. as an agency bank, allowing the lender to handle transactions related to taxes and the collection of state taxes, stamp duty and pension payments on behalf of the central and state governments, The Economic Times reported.
* Yes Bank Ltd. completed the sale of its wholly owned units Yes Asset Management (India) Ltd. and Yes Trustee Ltd. to GPL Finance and Investments Ltd.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
* FTSE Russell CEO Arne Staal said the company is considering changes to its FTSE China A50 index, which covers the 50 largest companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen in China, in response to investor feedback, the Financial Times of London reported.
* Kakao Pay Corp. will debut on the South Korean bourse Nov. 3, The Korea Times reported. The firm set its IPO price at 90,000 won per share, enabling it to raise 1.53 trillion won through the listing.
* Zurich Malaysia has announced the appointment of Nazrul Hisham Abd. Hamid as CEO of Zurich Takaful Malaysia Bhd. with immediate effect, Utusan Malaysia reported.
* Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya PCL's Krungsriayudhya Card Co. Ltd. unit launched Now Credit Card as its first virtual credit card, which is available through its U Choose digital platform, Bangkok Post reported.
* India's One97 Communications Ltd. is set to raise $1.1 billion from anchor investors, which could include BlackRock Inc. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and GIC Pte., as part of its IPO, Mint reported citing sources.
* Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd. reported a consolidated profit attributable to owners for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of 52.58 billion rupees, up from about 46.00 billion rupees in the prior-year period.
* The boards of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. subsidiaries Aditya Birla Capital Technology Services Ltd. and Aditya Birla Money Mart Ltd. approved the merger of Aditya Birla Money Mart with Aditya Birla Capital Technology Services.
* Australia's Computershare Ltd. completed the acquisition of the assets of Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services. The business will be renamed Computershare Corporate Trust.
* Netwealth Group Ltd. submitted a nonbinding proposal to acquire all the issued shares of Praemium Ltd. in a merger. Netwealth offered one of its shares for every 11.96 Praemium shares and a cash consideration. Praemium's board concluded that the proposal undervalues Praemium's business and is not in the best interest of Praemium shareholders.
POLICY AND REGULATION
* The People's Bank of China injected 500 billion yuan worth of medium-term loans into the banking system in October and kept the rate on one-year medium-term lending facility loans to financial institutions steady at 2.95%.
* Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission fined Fulbright Securities Ltd. HK$3.3 million for internal control failures relating to its placing activities and recording of client order instructions. It also suspended Fulbright's responsible officer, Eric Liu Chi Ming, for six months from Oct. 29.
* Japan's Financial Services Agency ordered Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc. to submit a report on the dismissal of former CEO Takeshi Yoshimura over his alleged plan to set up a new bank, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.
* South Korea's Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service launched a joint task force to enforce and coordinate various curbs on household debt.
* The Reserve Bank of India canceled the certificate of authorization of Muthoot Finance Ltd. to set up, own and operate white label ATMs. It also canceled the certificate of authorization of DigitSecure India Pvt. Ltd., Kedia Infotech Ltd. and Oxigen Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. to issue prepaid payment instruments.
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Eden Estopace, Kanas Chan, Jonathan Cheah, James Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.
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