GREATER CHINA
* Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission imposed a fine of HK$119 million on UBS Securities Hong Kong Ltd. and suspended the company from sponsoring IPOs for 18 months amid investigations over its role in certain offerings listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, UBS Group AG said in its 2017 annual report.
* The China Banking Regulatory Commission directed shareholders that have acquired more than 5% stakes in commercial lenders via financial products to cut their holdings within a year, Reuters reported, citing a statement. The authority noted in a separate online statement that it prohibits shareholders from "imposing inappropriate control over banks and seeking illegitimate interests."
* Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said the central bank will play a more important role in the country's financial supervisory framework under the ongoing financial supervisory system reform, Caixin reported. Zhou noted that authorities will come up with more financial regulations and have the central bank take the lead to enhance cooperation between regulators and financial institutions.
* Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission said authorities would work toward deregulation to revive the appetite of the island's fixed-income investors for structured-finance products, as life insurers' positions in fixed-income assets have declined to low levels compared with insurers abroad, the Taipei Times reported, citing Vice Chairman Cheng Cheng-mount.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* Japan's Nippon Life Insurance Co. agreed to take a 5% stake in Deutsche Bank AG's asset management business, DWS, by purchasing shares in the latter's planned IPO at an issue price of ?€30 to ?€36 apiece. The German lender will offer 40 million shares in DWS at the issue price, corresponding to 20% of the unit's existing share capital.
* Japan-based Sompo Holdings Inc. said it completed the sale of its 100% stake in Sompo Canopius AG to a private equity consortium led by Centerbridge Partners LP for US$952.4 million. The transaction, announced in September 2017, does not have a significant impact on Sompo's consolidated results, the company noted.
* Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. plans to assign senior executive Yoshihiko Sunaga to oversee its Brexit preparations in anticipation of a tight timetable for managing the move, Bloomberg News reported, citing a source. Sunaga will oversee the shift of potentially more than 100 employees to Frankfurt from London, as well as possible recruitment in the German city.
* South Korea's NongHyup Financial Group Inc. said its affiliates, NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd. and NongHyup Life Insurance Co. Ltd., will take stakes in a Chinese insurer that will be established in cooperation with its strategic partner in the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, Yonhap News Agency reported. Further, the group is in talks with Vietnam Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development to seek new opportunities in the country's insurance market.
* Choe Heung-sik, governor of South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, said he was not involved in hiring irregularities regarding KEB Hana Bank's recruitment when he was the lender's president, The Korea Times reported. Choe's possible involvement in the irregularities was uncovered by the FSS, the report said.
ASEAN
* The Bank of Thailand and Japan's Ministry of Finance signed a cooperation agreement to promote the use of local currencies for trade and investment in both countries, The Nation reported. The agreement covers the promotion of the direct exchange rate quotation and interbank trading between the yen and the baht.
* Bank Indonesia estimates the country's current account deficit will widen to 2.1% of GDP, from 1.7% in 2017, on the back of larger imports of raw materials, the Jakarta Globe reported, citing Governor Agus Martowardojo. He added that the central bank expects a trade balance deficit of US$230 million in February.
* Philippines-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. expects a profit growth of 5% to 10% as it seeks to leverage on the growing economy and development of infrastructure in the country, The Philippine Star reported, citing President and CEO Gil Buenaventura. The target was set after the lender's net income in 2017 rose 11.4%, Buenaventura said.
* Manila-based BDO Unibank Inc. unit One Network Bank Inc. (a Rural Bank) surrendered its license to conduct trust and other fiduciary business, The Philippine Star reported, citing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
SOUTH ASIA
* The Reserve Bank of India told commercial lenders to provide details of all letters of undertaking they issued in the past several years, Mint reported, citing "four bankers who have seen the directive." The details the regulator has asked include the amounts outstanding, as well as whether the lenders had pre-approved credit limits or kept enough cash on margin before issuing such letters, the sources said.
* A South African court has absolved India-based Bank of Baroda of possessing illegally acquired assets in connection with its dealings with the politically connected Gupta family, The Economic Times reported. But the lender still faces a criminal complaint filed by South Africa's Democratic Alliance party, alleging that the bank had helped the Guptas launder money out of the country.
* Union Bank of India CEO Rajkiran Rai said the lender has direct credit exposure of about 1.2 billion rupees to companies controlled by jeweler Nirav Modi, and another 1.75 billion rupees to the Gitanjali group of companies, Reuters reported. Modi, together with his uncle Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Group, was accused of defrauding the bank of over US$2 billion.
* India's central bank fined Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. 50 million rupees for breaching know-your-customer norms and operating guidelines for payments banks. The penalty follows complaints and media reports alleging that the lender had set up customer accounts without clients' clear consent.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* Chinese wealth manager Noah Holdings Ltd. established its first Australian office in the city of Melbourne, as it seeks to invest up to A$2 billion in local private equity deals over the next four years, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* Australia's banking royal commission is withholding the identity of National Australia Bank Ltd. whistleblowers ahead of the commission's first round of public hearings into home loans, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The hearing will tackle the bank's problems with fraudulent home loan applications submitted through its "introducer" scheme, where people outside the lender collected a commission for customer referral.
* The Reserve Bank of New Zealand defended its decision to keep its probe into CBL Corp. Ltd. confidential, saying it had to keep its interactions with entities under regulation private unless certain conditions were met, The New Zealand Herald reported, citing Geoff Bascand, deputy governor and head of financial stability at the central bank. CBL in early February said it had been under instruction by the authority as far back as July 2017 but was subject to a confidentiality order.
R Sio, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
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