GREATER CHINA
* China Development Bank will issue up to 23 billion yuan of fixed-interest bonds March 13 in three tranches, with one-year, three-year and ten-year tenures at nominal interest rates of 4.14%, 4.62% and 4.88%, respectively, Reuters reported.
* Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission said the branches and sub-branches of five Taiwanese banks had a combined profit of NT$850 million in 2017, Taiwan's Economic Daily reported. Among the five banks, only E.SUN Commercial Bank Ltd. was in the red and posted a loss of NT$760 million in 2017 and NT$660 million in 2016, due to bad debt losses.
* Taiwan's securities brokers will likely preserve their largely stable credit outlooks and fend off an increase in risk from volatility in both domestic and overseas markets, owing to their strong capital position, according to a report by S&P Global Ratings subsidiary Taiwan Ratings Corp.
* Hua Nan Commercial Bank Ltd. plans to increase its loan book by 4% in 2018 to boost its profits on the back of interest rate hikes and portfolio adjustments, the Taipei Times reported.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* Nomura Holdings Inc. affiliate Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. will float Australian-dollar denominated bonds for Japanese investors in mid-March as it seeks a new fundraising option to repay loans taken out for an overseas acquisition, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.
* Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co. Ltd., an affiliate of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc., will collaborate with U.S.-based Stroz Friedberg, LLC to focus on cybersecurity for Japanese businesses expanding overseas, The Nikkei reported.
* South Korea's Woori Bank is planning to establish a loan officer system in its overseas branches in Southeast Asia to increase the efficiency of relevant tasks and to gain global competitiveness, Money Today reported, citing industry observers.
* Korea Development Bank said that while it could not provide a cushion to GM Korea Ltd.'s current debt and losses, it can help the troubled automobile manufacturer by offering fresh funds once the state lender is aware of GM Korea's cost structure and turnaround plan, Pulse reported, citing Lee Dong-geol, chairman of KDB.
ASEAN
* The board of directors of Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission decided to put off discussions relating to a proposed regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings after the government agreed to enact special laws to regulate the management of digital assets, Daily News reported. The board was previously scheduled to discuss the ICO regulatory framework March 8.
* PT Bank Central Asia Tbk reported a 13% year-over-year increase in full-year 2017 net profit to 23.3 trillion Indonesian rupiah from 20.61 trillion rupiah, Reuters reported. The lender posted a 4.1% increase in net interest income and 11.5% growth in noninterest income, while bad loans dropped 42.3% in 2017.
* Vietnam's stock exchange has allowed Vietnam Prosperity JSCB to engage in margin trading by pulling out the lender's shares from the list of securities that are ineligible for such trading, Viet Nam News reported.
* Saigon - Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank increased its charter capital to more than 12 trillion Vietnamese dong after issuing more than 83.92 million shares, Viet Nam News reported.
SOUTH ASIA
* Investment Corp. of Bangladesh and a number of state-owned lenders are expected to acquire a 60% stake in Farmers Bank Ltd., The Daily Star reported, citing Finance Minister AMA Muhith. He added that the Bangladeshi government would not allow banks in the country to shut down.
* India's central bank is likely to give Punjab National Bank 12 months to set aside provisions against the alleged US$2 billion fraud connected to high-profile jeweler Nirav Modi, Press Trust of India reported.
* The Reserve Bank of India has fined Equitas, a small finance bank, 1 million rupees for selling mutual funds as well as pension and insurance products without obtaining approval from the regulator, Press Trust of India reported.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* QBE Insurance Group Ltd. sold the 3.3 million shares it holds in AUB Group Ltd. for A$41.2 million, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk blog reported. The stock was purchased by a "handful" of institutional investors for A$12.65 per share.
* Commonwealth Bank of Australia lowered its daily cash ATM deposit limit for personal and business accounts to A$10,000 as part of efforts to counter money laundering.
* The Australian Securities and Investments Commission called out Westpac Banking Corp. and asked why the company did not summon three of its sales call center employees as witnesses in court proceedings, The Australian Financial Review reported. The regulator alleged that the bank's staff misunderstood their obligations of not giving personal advice to customers.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Middle East & Africa: Ghana's ADB, uniBank deny takeover; Saudi prince seeks end to bank tax dispute
Europe: Aviva FY'17 profit jumps YOY; EU rules out special treatment for UK
Latin America: Finansur asset freeze lifted; Grupo Sura sells Chile annuity biz
North America: More tweaks on Dodd-Frank rewrite bill; Goldman Sachs begins Brexit move
North America Insurance: Cigna to buy Express Scripts for $67B; court orders Berkshire unit to pay $68M
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
R Sio, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
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