TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
* Commonwealth Bank of Australia, or CBA, said it would acquire a 20% stake in Brisbane, Australia-based financial technology firm Paypa Plane as part of a partnership agreement to work on enhancing payment services for businesses in the country.
* Bank of Ayudhya PCL plans to invest 7 billion Thai baht to 8 billion baht this year on information technology to strengthen its digital and innovation ecosystems and to expand its digital banking services, Bangkok Post reported. Chief Strategy Officer Pairote Cheunkrut said the bank would focus on expanding its application programming interface with banks in Southeast Asia, co-building an artificial intelligence technology lab with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and partners such as Grab Holdings Ltd.
➤ APAC financial institutions M&A interest tracker
Indian and Australian banks' efforts to sell noncore assets helped drive potential deal activity in the region's financial sector in January.
➤ Many US banks on the prowl for M&A opportunities
More deals are likely on the horizon as a review of earnings conference calls shows that many bank management teams in the U.S. are considering M&A opportunities.
BANKING
* Thailand-based Krung Thai Bank PCL will offer depositary receipts representing shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to retail investors via Krungthai Zmico Securities Co. Ltd. and Finansia Syrus Securities PCL between Feb. 14 and Feb. 17, Rawin Boonyanusasna, senior executive vice president and head of the bank, said in a release.
* The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved the upgrade of Philippine Bank of Communications' commercial banking license to a universal banking license, subject to regulatory requirements. The upgrade will allow the Philippines-based bank to invest in non-allied enterprises and to expand its product and service offerings.
* PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk CEO Royke Tumilaar said the Indonesian state lender plans to acquire a bank in 2022 and turn it into a digital bank, Infobank reported.
* State Bank of India reported a consolidated net profit of 96.92 billion Indian rupees for the fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021, up 51.4% from 64.02 billion rupees in the prior-year period.
* State Bank of India plans to sell six nonperforming asset accounts to asset reconstruction companies to recover dues totaling nearly 4.06 billion rupees, subject to approval by a competent authority of the bank, Press Trust of India reported.
* The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission told NRB Bank Ltd. to penalize its CFO, Kamrul Hasan, for Hasan's alleged involvement in unethical trading activities with "outsiders," The Financial Express reported.
* Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said its group net interest margin was down 8 basis points for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021. The bank also said it is considering increasing the size of its current on-market buyback.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
* South Korean financial firms, including the country's major commercial banks and insurance firms, are planning to pay bonuses up to four times the monthly salaries of their employees for 2021, The Korea Herald reported, citing sources.
* Samsung Securities Co. Ltd. will commence offering trading in U.S. securities from 10 a.m. Feb. 7 in collaboration with Blue Ocean, an overnight trade service provider, Yonhap News Agency reported.
* U.S.-based Cerberus Capital Management LP and J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC submitted binding bids to acquire a stake in India-based Yes Bank Ltd.'s proposed asset reconstruction company, while Oaktree Capital and Apollo Global Management Inc. did not submit bids, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing two people aware of the development.
* Australia's Keybridge Capital Ltd. said it planned to make an off-market takeover bid for all currently issued fully paid ordinary shares in WAM Active Ltd. for an all scrip bid consideration of Keybridge convertible redeemable promissory notes for each WAM Active share.
POLICY AND REGULATION
* China is promoting digital currencies at the 2022 Winter Olympics, China Securities Journal reported. Only Visa cards, cash and the e-CNY digital currency may be used for transactions at Beijing Games venues.
* Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said the central bank would experiment with central bank digital currencies over the next few years, Bloomberg News reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The yield on newly issued 10-year government bonds briefly hit a six-year high at 0.20% on Feb. 4, moving closer to the 0.25% upper target set by the Bank of Japan, Nikkei Asia reported. If the yield moves further closer to the cap, the central bank is expected to opt for an emergency operation to purchase an unlimited amount of government bonds at a set rate to ease the upward pressure on the yield.
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As of Feb. 4, US$1 was equivalent to 33.03 Thai baht and 74.64 Indian rupees.
R Sio, Eden Estopace, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
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