GREATER CHINA
* Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. agreed to acquire a 33% equity stake in its payments affiliate, Ant Financial Services Group, in exchange for "certain intellectual property rights owned by Alibaba exclusively related to Ant Financial." The two entities said there would be no cash impact to Alibaba after the acquisition closes.
* The People's Bank of China provided 72 billion yuan of loans to China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China and Agricultural Development Bank of China through pledged supplementary lending, or PSL, in January, Shanghai Securities News reported. The balance of PSL stood at 2.76 trillion yuan at the end of the month.
* China allowed Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd. to offer lead underwriting services for certain types of yuan-denominated or panda bond issuances, as part of its efforts to further open up its financial market, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors. The bank's CEO, Jerry Zhang, said the company can take advantage of its global network strength to bring in high-quality issuers and channel overseas investment into the local interbank bond market.
* China's Bank of Communications Co. Ltd. elected Peng Chun as chairman on Feb. 1, replacing Niu Ximing, who stepped down due to work adjustments. As a result, Peng stepped down as the bank's president, but will retain his duties until a successor is named.
* Hong Kong banks' pretax profits were 15.8% higher in 2017, compared with a growth of 8.3% in 2016, the South China Morning Post reported, citing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The lenders' net interest margin for 2017 clocked in at 1.45%, up from 1.32% a year ago, on the back of an increase in interest rates, HKMA Deputy CEO Arthur Yuen said.
* Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission fined Citibank Taiwan Ltd. NT$6 million after the lender's internal control measures failed to discover misconduct by an unnamed financial adviser at its branch in Taipei's Xinyi District, the Taipei Times reported. The bank was also fined NT$2.5 million over a system update glitch that caused it to overcharge its credit card clients.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* Japan's Nippon Life Insurance Co. will acquire the 10% stake owned by U.S.-based Putnam Investments LLC in its 90% owned unit, Nissay Asset Management Corp., for about ¥15 billion, The Nikkei reported. Nippon Life's existing business partnership with Putnam will remain unchanged.
* Japan-based Tokyo TY Financial Group Inc. appointed Hisanobu Watanabe as CEO of Kiraboshi Bank Ltd., which is set to start operations in May based on the merger of the group's three banking units, The Nikkei reported. He is an executive director at Tokyo TY Financial unit Tokyo Tomin Bank Ltd.
* South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service decided not to approve CAPE Investment & Securities Co.,Ltd.'s plan to acquire a stake in SK Securities Co. Ltd., The Financial News reported. In August 2017, Cape Investment agreed to buy 32,011,720 shares, or a 10% stake, in SK Securities for 60.82 billion won. Meanwhile, the country's Fair Trade Commission ordered SK Group to sell its 9.88% stake in its securities unit within one year as the conglomerate violated a law banning nonfinancial holding companies from owning a stake in a financial unit, Yonhap News Agency reported.
* The Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency on Feb. 1 searched the Seoul office of BTC KoreaCom Corp., which operates South Korea's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, in connection with hacking incidents that resulted in the loss of 36,487 pieces of personal information in 2017, The Dong-a Ilbo reported.
* Korea Investment Holdings Co. Ltd. unit Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. said its board decided to increase the capital of its Vietnamese subsidiary to 90 billion South Korean won through a rights issue worth 38 billion won, Yonhap News Agency reported.
ASEAN
* Thailand's Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand and the Anti-Money Laundering Office are expected to finalize details on how to regulate trading of digital currencies within February, Manager Daily reported.
* Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya PCL rolled out its three-year business plan, which focuses on digital innovation, customer experience and supporting retail and corporate customers, Krungthep Turakij reported. The lender affirmed that it has no plan to lower the number of employees or branches, and targets a 6% to 8% growth in credit in 2018.
* Onny Widjanarko, head of Bank Indonesia's payment system policy department, said the central bank has started conducting initial research into digital currency benchmarks by central banks in other jurisdictions, such as Canada, Singapore and Ecuador, Jakarta Globe reported. The study on the so-called central bank digital currency is expected to be completed by 2020.
* Indonesian lender PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero) Tbk is aiming to raise its fee-based income to 10% of its total revenue in 2018, Bisnis Indonesia reported. One of the ways to raise the income is to enter into bancassurance partnerships, the bank said.
* Philippines-based Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., or Metrobank, posted a 10% year-over-year increase in net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017. The lender's full-year net income stood at 18.2 billion pesos, thanks to robust growth in loans and deposits.
SOUTH ASIA
* The Indian government plans to merge three state-owned insurers — Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., National Insurance Co. Ltd. and United India Insurance Co. Ltd. — and subsequently list the merged entity, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said during his fiscal 2018-2019 budget speech. The three insurers were approved for listing in principle in 2017.
* India aims to eliminate the use of cryptocurrencies in financing illegal activities or for payments as the government does not consider such currencies as legal tender, Reuters reported, citing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The government, however, would proactively explore the use of blockchain technology to push for a digital economy, Jaitley said.
* Pakistan-based Habib Bank Ltd. named Muhammad Aurangzeb as president and CEO of the lender, subject to approval from the country's central bank. Aurangzeb will replace Nauman Dar, who retired from the role at the end of 2017.
* Sri Lanka's Janashakthi Insurance PLC is divesting its general insurance segment, Janashakthi General Insurance Ltd., with the terms of the deal in the final stages of negotiation, The Sunday Times reported, citing a company statement. The insurer said its board approved the sale to an undisclosed buyer, which according to stock market sources is Allianz Insurance Lanka Ltd.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* Westpac Banking Corp. is said to be planning for an IPO of its auto loans operations in November, which could value the division at A$4.9 billion, The Australian reported. Morgan Stanley has been hired to work on the division and is reportedly separating the operations in preparation for an IPO. The business generates A$350 million in earnings after tax and has loans worth A$15 billion, the report added.
* Australia's Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar confirmed he was working with the country's treasury and the Australian Taxation Office about how they can possibly tax cryptocurrencies, The Australian reported. The work with other authorities is "at the embryonic stage," Sukkar said, adding that they should give "pretty good guidance" on treating such currencies for tax purposes.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Middle East & Africa: Capitec shares fall after Viceroy report; Commercial Bank sets focus on Turkey
Europe: Telefónica hit dents BBVA's Q4'17 profit; EU-wide bank stress test launched
Latin America: Scotiabank in deal with Citi Colombia; Bradesco's Q4 profit jumps 10.9%
North America: Blackstone eyeing NZ-based finance company; fintech company Moven to buy bank in US
North America Insurance: Insurers bump up insurtech investments; Cigna and Radian report earnings
Janna Estares, Sally Wang, Jonathan Cheah, Jaekwon Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.
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