China mulls Tencent overhaul; SMBC dissolves Vietnam Eximbank tie-up

TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

* WeChat Pay, a Chinese mobile payment platform backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., may be incorporated into a newly created financial holding company as part of a business overhaul that may require a new license similar to that imposed on Ant Group Co. Ltd., Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., or SMBC, dissolved its strategic partnership with Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or Vietnam Eximbank. The company has maintained a business tie-up with the Vietnamese bank since 2007 when it acquired a 15% stake in the firm.

➤ India, China to lead Asia's insurtech rise

While insurtech fundraising has been brisk across Asia recently, innovators in China and India appear best positioned to move beyond a supporting role and challenge the region's industry incumbents.

➤ Competition, stringent rules to constrain SPAC listings in Hong Kong, Singapore

Special purpose acquisition companies in the region may struggle to find targets after listing as they run against specific time frame requirements, analysts said.

READ MORE about the market reaction and industry impact of the evolving situation in Russia and Ukraine in our new Issue in Focus.

EARNINGS SPOTLIGHT

* Haitong Securities Co. Ltd. posted a 17.9% year-over-year jump in profit attributable to shareholders for full year 2021 to 12.83 billion Chinese yuan from 10.88 billion yuan. Operating income rose 12.78% to 43.10 billion yuan from 38.22 billion yuan.

* China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. reported a 23.2% year-over-year rise in net profit for full year 2021 to 119.92 billion yuan from 97.34 billion yuan. Net interest margin stayed flat at 2.48%, while the nonperforming loan ratio eased to 0.91% from 1.07%

* Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co. Ltd.'s net profit for full year 2021 declined 9.12% to 53.00 billion yuan from 58.33 billion yuan. Total operating income dropped 2.75% to 190.98 billion yuan, while the nonperforming loan ratio declined for the eighth consecutive quarter to 1.61% as of end-2021.

BANKING

* State Bank of India is offering for sale 12 nonperforming assets to asset reconstruction companies and other financial institutions to recover more than 8.2 billion Indian rupees of loan dues, Press Trust of India reported, citing the lender.

* HDFC Bank Ltd. will be pushing merchant loans to the public through its SmartHub Vyapar app that is currently in the pilot phase, The Economic Times reported, citing Parag Rao, the bank's country head of payments.

* Officials at India's Central Bureau of Investigation booked 19 people including former The Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd. chairman Mushtaq Ahmad Shaikh for allegedly issuing fraudulent loans to REI Agro Ltd., Press Trust of India reported. The agency also booked REI Agro Chairman Sanjay Jhunjhunwala as well as Vice President and Managing Director Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, the officials said.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Hang Seng Investment Management Ltd., the asset management unit of Hang Seng Bank Ltd., will replace State Street Global Advisors Asia Ltd. as the manager of Tracker Fund of Hong Kong, the largest exchange-traded fund in Hong Kong, Caixin Global reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The change will be announced within one to two weeks, the sources said.

* Black Spade Asia Acquisition Co., a special purpose acquisition company with Black Spade Asia and BOCHK Asset Management Ltd. as promoters, has filed an application for a potential IPO in Hong Kong. The company intends to focus on targets in Greater China that are related to or in the entertainment, lifestyle and healthcare industry, its sole sponsor, UBS, said in a release.

* Greg O'Neill will retire as president and CEO of La Trobe Financial Group following the company's acquisition by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., the Australian Financial Review reported, citing the Canada-based private equity firm. Brookfield acquired the Australian company from Blackstone Inc. for about A$1.6 billion.

POLICY AND REGULATION

* The Bank of Japan kept the short-term policy interest rate target at negative 0.1%, as inflationary influences in the country have remained weak, the central bank said in a release.

* Singapore's central bank said it issued 10-year prohibition orders against a former wealth planning manager of DBS Bank Ltd. The orders took effect March 16 after Loh Thim Mun Marcus was convicted of fraud and other offenses involving financial "dishonesty," the regulator said in a release.

* Australia's federal government is set to consult the market on a potential legislation to cover licensing and classification of digital tokens, the Australian Financial Review reported. The legislation could allow the country to take part in the development of Web3, or the new form of internet that underpins digital assets, and generate jobs and tax revenue.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Zhejiang, a Chinese eastern province, will launch a pilot test for the implementation of the national "common prosperity" guidelines, according to a joint statement issued by the People's Bank of China, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Zhejiang local government and other authorities.

* The Monetary Authority of Singapore and London-based CDP signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on improving lenders' access to environmental, social and governance data provided by the nonprofit organization.

Click here for a summary of indexes on the S&P Capital IQ Pro platform.

As of March 18, US$1 was equivalent to 6.36 Chinese yuan and 76.03 Indian rupees.

Eden Estopace, Kanas Chan, Jonathan Cheah, James Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.

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