Indian Commodity Exchange loses regulator recognition; Philippines raises rates

TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

* The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or SEBI, withdrew the recognition granted to Indian Commodity Exchange Ltd. This was pursuant to an order passed by V.S. Sundaresan, the regulator's executive director for noncompliance with net worth requirements, SEBI circulars and inspection observations, as well as infrastructural requirements. It directed the firm to refrain from using the term stock exchange or any variant in its or its unit's name.

* The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas's monetary board raised the interest rate on the Philippine central bank's overnight reverse repurchase facility by 25 basis points to 2.25%, effective May 20. Accordingly, the interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were raised to 1.75% and 2.75%, respectively.

➤ Monetary easing in China to spur green bond issuance as sales elsewhere falter

China saw a rise in green bond issuances to $37.64 billion in the first quarter, from $25.18 billion in the prior-year period, bucking a global trend, according to data from the Climate Bonds Initiative.

➤ Banks pull back on bond purchases as funding outlook shifts

Interest rates have continued to rise in the second quarter, but banks appear to have held off on securities deployment as loans have continued to grow and deposits have leveled off.

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

BANKING

* China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. appointed Wang Liang its president, subject to regulatory approval, the Chinese bank said in a statement. Wang is currently a first executive vice president and CFO of the lender.

* The local government of Shanghai gave the green light to more than 800 financial institutions to resume on-site operations, according to a whitelist notice dated May 17, Bloomberg News reported. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and the China-based offices of HSBC Holdings PLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were on the first batch of whitelisted institutions, among others.

* Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. is considering using its knowledge in investment banking to help companies in the metaverse raise money and advise on how to navigate regulations as they emerge, Bloomberg News reported, citing senior managing director Kaoru Numata, who oversees digital projects and retail marketing.

* The Export-Import Bank of Korea issued bonds comprising €550 million of floating-rate notes with a two-year maturity and €950 million of fixed-rate notes with a 3.5-year maturity, BusinessKorea reported.

* Indonesia's PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk acquired 63.92% of the issued and paid-up shares in PT Bank Mayora, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

* PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk is looking to conduct a rights issue of at least 5 trillion rupiah in the third quarter, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

* The board of Bank of the Philippine Islands said in a bourse release it approved the issuance of up to 100 billion pesos in peso-denominated bank bonds and commercial papers under a new program, subject to market conditions, to diversify its funding sources and support the Philippines-based bank's sustainability strategy.

* IDBI Bank Ltd. said in a stock exchange filing its board approved the appointment of Raj Kumar, managing director of Life Insurance Corp. of India, as the insurance firm's nominee director on the Indian bank's board, effective May 9.

* Union Bank of India said the accounts of Srei Equipment Finance Ltd. and Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd. with the bank have been classified as fraud, according to a bourse release. The lender added it would initiate the appropriate legal proceedings in this regard in due course.

* P.N. Vasudevan, managing director and CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd., is leaving the lender and will continue in his post until the succession and transition process is completed, the bank said in a stock exchange filing.

* HDFC Bank Ltd. carved out rural banking as a separate vertical out of retail branch banking and named Anil Bhavnani the head of its national rural banking division. The bank will open over 1,060 branches in semi-urban and rural areas this financial year, and it has 50% of its 6,342 branches in semi-urban and rural areas.

* Pakistan's Summit Bank Ltd. said in a bourse release a lawsuit was filed in the Sindh High Court seeking to block the acquisition of a majority stake in the lender by a consortium. The bank said the lawsuit is premised on false and baseless allegations.

* Citigroup Inc. appointed Mark Woodruff, its head of investor sales for Australia and New Zealand, as its head of Australia and New Zealand markets to succeed Luke Randell, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk blog reported.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. plans to continue to pare down the group portfolio of strategic shareholdings in business partner companies, which stood at ¥1.85 trillion between MUFG Bank Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp. at the end of March 2021, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.

* Colonial First State — owned by KKR & Co. Inc. and Commonwealth Bank of Australia — is in exclusive talks with Westpac Banking Corp. regarding the latter's wealth business, including its Panorama platform, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk blog reported. A Westpac spokesman declined to comment.

POLICY AND REGULATION

* The Henan office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Zhengzhou subbranch of the People's Bank of China were instructed to work with local authorities to look into the case of four Henan province village lenders who stopped offering online banking services, Caixin reported, citing a China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission representative.

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As of May 19, US$1 was equivalent to 52.21 Philippine pesos, 14,628 Indonesian rupiah and ¥127.35.

R Sio, Kanas Chan, Jonathan Cheah, James Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.

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