Hong Kong, Macao hike rates; KEB Hana Bank told to compensate customer losses

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of banking news stories and more published throughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links to third-party sources that require a subscription.

Policy rate hikes, regulatory actions

* The Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised the base rate to 2% after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised key rates by 75 basis points. The Monetary Authority of Macao also raised its main reference interest rate by 75 basis points to 2%, citing the linkage of the pataca to the Hong Kong dollar.

* The financial dispute mediation committee under South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service recommended the payment of refunds in a fund failure case involving a fund product sold by KEB Hana Bank between 2017 and 2019, holding the lender liable for violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.

* India's central bank levied a fine of 200,000 rupees on Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. Budaun over the lender's failure to comply with directions on classifying and reporting fraud.

Deals & transactions

* India's Department of Investment and Public Asset Management will likely issue invitations for preliminary bids to privatize IDBI Bank Ltd. by the end of July, Press Trust of India reported, citing officials. The country's Department of Investment and Public Asset Management is holding roadshows in the U.S. for the potential stake sale, the publication reported.

* The Competition Commission of India said it approved Bc Asia Investments X Ltd.'s proposed acquisition of up to 24.98% stake in India-based IIFL Wealth Management Ltd.

M&A corner

* South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. and its U.S.-based subsidiary, Global X ETFs, completed the acquisition of Australian exchange-traded funds provider ETF Securities Australia.

* Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. is looking to acquire accounting software company MYOB from private equity giant KKR & Co. Inc., The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk blog reported, citing sources.

* Australian private equity firm Teaminvest Private Group Ltd. acquired retail fund manager BIM Trading Pty. Ltd., which trades as Burman Invest. Following the acquisition, Burman Invest's founder, Julia Lee, will leave the position of chief investment officer to take on a global role.

In other news

* The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission granted Australia-based Equity Story Group Ltd. approval to register as an investment company. The move enables Equity Story USA, a Delaware statutory trust controlled by the group, to offer subscription-based financial, equities trading general advice, research insights and investor education services to U.S. customers.

* The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission approved a plan by Global Islami Bank Ltd. to raise 4.25 billion taka through an initial public offering, The Financial Express reported. The bank will issue 425,000,000 ordinary shares at a face value of 10 taka each under the fixed price method.

* The central bank-appointed administrator of Srei Equipment Finance Ltd. found fraudulent transactions amounting to 30.26 billion rupees over the fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. The administrator has filed a report with the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal regarding the fraudulent transactions.

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