GREATER CHINA
* Guotai Junan Securities expects the People's Bank of China to cut the benchmark interest rate at the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019, Caijing reported. The securities company said China may probably reduce reserve requirement ratios and the benchmark interest rate more than once within a 12-month period.
* The People's Bank of China said domestic banks' new yuan loans to the country's real economy stood at 12.8 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, while the balance of entrusted loans went down 1.16 trillion yuan, China Securities Journal reported. Meanwhile, the balance of foreign currency-denominated loans extended to the real economy declined to 191.3 billion yuan.
* Singapore-based financial technology firm NetsPay and Tencent Holdings' WeChat Pay are in discussions regarding cross-border payments, South China Morning Post reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. The collaboration will allow NetsPay users to make mobile payments in China.
* The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has issued more than 800 penalty tickets to banks and senior management officials in the third quarter, nearly 200 more than in the second quarter, as the country tightens its financial supervision, China's Economic Information Daily reported.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* Hideo Hayakawa, senior executive fellow at the Fujitsu Research Institute and former executive director at The Bank of Japan, said it is likely that the economy will reach a turning point as robust capital investment may pose a risk, Bloomberg News reported.
* Japan's Financial Services Agency appointed the chairman emeritus of CME Group, Leo Melamed, to be its new adviser, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported. The FSA will seek advice from Melamed to improve global competitiveness in the capital market.
* South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service unveiled a preliminary set of tightened regulations for financial institutions with an aim to enforce stricter internal control as well as prevent errors and fraud, The Korea Herald reported. Under the new rules, at least 1% of the entire staff and executives in a financial institution should be assigned to compliance operations.
ASEAN
* TMB Bank PCL posted a net profit of 9.9 billion baht for the nine months ended September, up 54% year over year, Manager Daily reported. The lender's nonperforming loans amounted to 20.95 billion baht, accounting for 2.69% of total loans.
* Indonesian state lender PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk recorded loan growth of 13.8% in the third quarter, the highest in 18 months, Kompas reported. Separately, the publication said Mandiri's loan quality also improved, with an NPL ratio at 3.01%.
* V. Maslamani, chief compliance officer of Al-Rajhi Bank, said Malaysian lenders are expected to conduct screenings before taking in new customers to curb money laundering, The Star reported.
* Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. sees its ePiso digital currency, which is currently under testing and development, to be fully functional by 2019, BusinessWorld reported.
SOUTH ASIA
* DCB Bank Ltd.'s net profit for the second quarter ended September increased to 734.4 million Indian rupees from 589 million rupees in the prior-year period. For the fiscal first half, net profit grew to 1.43 billion rupees from 1.24 billion rupees.
* The Reserve Bank of India has asked Yes Bank Ltd. to find a successor to outgoing CEO and Managing Director Rana Kapoor by Feb. 1, 2019.
* The Indian government plans to inject 41 billion rupees into Dena Bank, prior to its merger with Bank of Baroda and Vijaya Bank, to shore up its balances under the weight of nonperforming assets, Verdict reported.
* Bangladesh-based City Bank Ltd. appointed Aziz Al Kaiser chairman and Hossain Khaled vice chairman, The Daily Star reported, citing a statement from the lender.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to release a new series of A$50 banknotes into general circulation in the country, following the release of new A$5 and A$10 banknotes over the past two years.
* The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority issued rules to help authorized deposit-taking institutions meet their obligations under the country's banking executive accountability regime.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Middle East & Africa: US unveils additional Iran sanctions; top European bankers shun Saudi conference
Europe: Nordea faces money laundering claims; Wells Fargo plans EU trading hub in Paris
Latin America: Chile most competitive in LatAm; Banco Agromercantil de Guatemala head leaving
North America: U.S. Bancorp, M&T Bank post higher profits; SEC deals setback to stock exchanges
Global Insurance: Progressive's Michael estimate; Brexit preparations; MGIC boosts Q3 profit
R Sio, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
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