GREATER CHINA
* China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. said its first-half net profit attributable to equity holders of the company jumped 128.9% to 37.60 billion yuan from 16.42 billion yuan a year earlier.
* Cathay United Bank Co. Ltd. plans to meet capital standards set for domestic systemically important banks by the end of 2019, well ahead of the regulatory requirement to meet those in four years, the Taipei Times reported. The bank was added to the D-SIBs list in June. In addition to receiving a NT$10 million capital injection from its parent Cathay Financial Holding Co. Ltd., the bank plans to reduce its risk-weighted assets in order to meet the standards.
* AIA Group Ltd. reported a 20% year-over-year increase in value of new business for the six months ended June 30 on a constant exchange rate basis, to US$2.28 billion from US$1.95 billion. It raised its interim dividend to 33.30 Hong Kong cents per share from 29.20 cents per share.
* First Financial Holding Co. Ltd. said it intends to inject NT$ 500 million into unit First Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (4313455), Taiwan's Economic Daily reported. The planned capital injection will increase the insurer's paid-in capital to NT$4.2 billion.
* Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd. posted a 25.22% year-over-year increase in net profit attributable to equity holders for the six months ended June to 5.02 billion yuan from 4.01 billion yuan. EPS rose to 53 fen from 42 fen in the prior-year period.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. is acquiring London-based asset manager TT International as it seeks to offer new options to Japanese investors amid low domestic yields, The Nikkei reported. The acquisition is expected to cost the bank around ¥20 billion, while the total cost of the deal could be as high as ¥35 billion.
* Korea Development Bank issued A$700 million of five-year bonds in the Australian market. The deal has a built-in interest rate swap based on the U.S. dollar LIBOR.
* The U.K. and South Korea signed a free trade agreement to let businesses continue trading freely after Oct. 31, the deadline set for the U.K. to leave the European Union, Yonhap News Agency reported. The two countries also agreed to update the terms of the agreement within two years.
ASEAN
* Thailand-based Muang Thai Life Assurance PCL collaborated with Counter Service Co. Ltd. to let foreign holders of personal accident and health insurance policies receive claim payments of up to 10,000 baht at 7-Eleven convenience stores across the country, Post Today reported.
* Bank of Ayudhya PCL subsidiary Ayudhya Capital Auto Lease PCL, known as Krungsri Auto, saw an 11% year-over-year growth in its outstanding loans in the first half, to 391 billion baht, despite the economic slowdown and slow auto sales growth in Thailand, Manager Daily reported.
* PT Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk appointed Nelson Tampubolon as an independent commissioner, Infobank reported. Tampubolon is the former executive head of the Financial Services Authority for banking supervision.
* Senior banker Jerry Ng and businessman Patrick Walujo joined forces to acquire a 51% stake in PT Bank Artos Indonesia Tbk, Bisnis Indonesia reported. Ng and Walujo worked together in PT Bank BTPN Tbk before the bank was acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
* Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said there is room for further easing following the central bank's decision to cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points 5.5%, Bisnis Indonesia reported. The central bank estimates lending to grow around 10% to 12% in 2019, and 11% to 13% in 2020.
SOUTH ASIA
* As part of Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd.'s resolution plan, lenders are likely to declare 65% of the troubled company's outstanding debt to be unsustainable, Mint reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. About 7.6 billion rupees of the amount will be converted into equity, while 152 billion rupees of debt will be declared unsustainable and converted into 10-year nonconvertible debentures.
* HDFC Bank Ltd. appointed Srinivasan Vaidyanathan as its new CFO, effective Aug. 22. Incumbent CFO Sashidhar Jagdishan would continue to head the finance function, in addition to assuming additional responsibilities.
* HSBC Holdings PLC has laid off about 200 employees in India, The Times of India reported. The move is part of an effort to restructure HSBC's global operations.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is proposing a ban on the sale of over-the-counter binary options to retail clients and restrictions on the sale of contracts of difference, or CFDs. The regulator is seeking feedback on the proposals by Oct. 1.
* Commonwealth Bank of Australia is holding talks with global insurers and local companies about potentially outsourcing its general insurance business as part of an internal review, The Australian reported, without citing sources. The bank is also considering selling the business and entering into a distribution agreement.
* Separately, CBA said it entered into further agreements to progress the planned sale of its Australian life insurance business CommInsure Life to AIA Group. Under the revised transaction path, CBA will receive aggregate proceeds of A$2.38 billion, a reduction of A$150 million from the original sale price.
* Evans Dixon Ltd. has cut at least 20 jobs in the last few weeks, with most of them from self-managed superannuation funds business Dixon Advisory Group Pty Ltd., The Australian Financial Review reported, citing industry sources. The layoff comes following the appointment of Peter Anderson as CEO in July, who was said to have initiated the job cuts.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Middle East & Africa: H1 profits fall at some of Angola's biggest banks; Zambia holds rate
Europe: 'No-deal Brexit base case; BNP Paribas, HSBC, StanChart 'victims' of Huawei
Latin America: Paraguay cuts key rate; Fitch revises outlooks on Ecuador, Suriname
North America: Release of GSE privatization proposal approaches; SEC charges NY broker/dealer
Global Insurance: Insurers lean on analytics; FASB proposal; HSBC eyes Aviva's Asian ops
Zia Ullah Khan, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 6:30 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
