Yes Bank talks with PE firms for 100B rupees; Mizuho teams up with Google Cloud

TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Yes Bank Ltd. held talks with private equity giants Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and BlackRock Inc. to raise capital against 5% to 10% of its stake, The Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources. The Indian lender is looking to raise 100 billion rupees and has been in talks with other private equity players including The Carlyle Group Inc. and Advent International Corp. Brookfield and BlackRock did not comment, while Yes Bank did not respond to the publication's queries.

* Japan's Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will launch a strategic partnership with Google Cloud Japan GK to roll out a digital platform for marketing investment trusts, mortgage loans and other financial services, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported. The move comes after a recent spate of banking system failures at the group.

➤ China counters economic slowdown with infrastructure push

Beijing will have to pull fiscal and monetary levers if China is to hit its growth target of around 5.5% in 2022 as the country contends with COVID-19, weak consumer spending and a deflating property bubble.

➤ More than 80% of Russia's banking sector subject to sanctions over Ukraine war

Most of the Russia's systemically important financial institutions have been cut off from major foreign markets in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

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

BANKING

* Industrial Bank Co. Ltd. said the government of Fujian province in China agreed to transfer its 16.91% interest in the lender to Fujian Financial Investment Ltd. Co. The scheme does not involve any tender, according to a filing.

* Lina Life Insurance Co. of Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with The Jeonbuk Bank Ltd. and Kwangju Bank Co. Ltd. to collaborate on developing digital financial services for the regional bank units of South Korea-headquartered JB Financial Group Co. Ltd., Yonhap News Agency reported.

* Members of the All India Bank Employees' Association, the Bank Employees Federation of India and the All India Bank Officers' Association will conduct a two-day nationwide bank strike March 28-29, State Bank of India disclosed in a filing.

* The Karnataka Bank Ltd.'s directors approved the issuance of 1.50 billion rupees of Basel III-compliant unsecured Tier 2 subordinated bonds, with an overallotment option for another 1.50 billion rupees. The bonds have a 10-year maturity, with a call option after five years, according to a filing.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

* Japan's Okasan Securities Group Inc. is looking to set up a digital securities unit as early as April, while Marui Group Co. Ltd. is planning to raise capital via digital bonds, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.

* Monex Group Inc. said Netherlands-based unit Coincheck Group BV will seek a Nasdaq listing in 2022 through a merger with U.S.-based special purpose acquisition company Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV Inc. Japan-based Coincheck Inc. became a unit of Monex Group in April 2018.

* The Asia Business Daily Co. Ltd., a business news provider based in South Korea, will acquire 5,540,167 new shares in A Capital Co. Ltd. for 30 billion won on March 30 to own a 20.41% stake in the consumer finance company.

* A syndicated buyer group purchased 5,142,045 shares or 71.34% of Jindal Capital Ltd. The total voting capital of the Indian company was unchanged at 7,208,100 equity shares worth 10 rupees apiece following the transaction, according to a filing.

POLICY AND REGULATION

* Thailand's cabinet decided to extend further its soft loan scheme for owners of small and medium-sized enterprises impacted by the pandemic, in an effort to minimize the risk of a default on their debt, Krungthep Turakij reported.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Ronadol Numnonda, a deputy governor of the Bank of Thailand, said in a release regular stress tests on Thai lenders' capital from 2021 to 2023 showed that the country's banking system remained resilient and could handle risks and uncertainties. This came after S&P Global Ratings lowered the ratings of four Thai commercial banks and maintained the ratings of two other lenders.

* The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub, the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the South African Reserve Bank completed two prototypes for a common platform enabling international settlements using multiple central bank digital currencies. Dubbed Project Dunbar, the collaboration proved financial institutions could use digital currencies issued by multiple central banks to transact daily, the Australian regulator said in a release.

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As of March 22, US$1 was equivalent to 76.16 Indian rupees and 1,217.70 South Korean won.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.

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

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