trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/GHqjCKjN4jOp35rKDr6m8A2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Japan's negative rates may continue; HKEx, Ping An to explore fintech

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook

Blog

Banking Essentials Newsletter 2021: December Edition


Japan's negative rates may continue; HKEx, Ping An to explore fintech

GREATER CHINA

* The People's Bank of China cut the reserve requirement ratio for all banks by 0.5 percentage points, effective Sept. 16, to boost tapering economic growth. In addition, the central bank will cut the reserve requirement ratio by 1 percentage point for some city commercial banks, in a bid to support small and micro enterprises.

* The China Securities Regulatory Commission has given Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank Co. Ltd. and Sirio Pharma Co. Ltd the green light to list their IPOs on the A-share market, Xinhua News Agency reported. The dates for the proposed public offerings and their prospectuses will be disclosed after further discussions with the relevant bourses.

* Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. signed a memorandum of cooperation with Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. to explore the possibility of a joint development of financial technology and data analysis. The collaboration aims to enhance the connectivity of the Hong Kong, China and the international markets, as well as explore fintech solutions such as the application of data and artificial intelligence in the financial industry.

* Bank of Guiyang Co. Ltd. received approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on the appointment of Zhang Zhenghai as chairman and director, and Xia Yulin as president and director.

JAPAN AND KOREA

* Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said deepening negative interest rates remains on the table since a slowdown in global economic growth could worsen due to trade tensions, The Nikkei reported. Kuroda said the regulator is "considering a variety of possibilities" including a combination of easing measures, and that cutting rates "further into the negative zone is always an option."

* Shimane Bank Ltd. announced an equity tie-up with SBI Holdings Inc. and SBI Asset Management Co. Ltd. Shimane Bank will issue 2,840,000 common shares and 940,840 preferred shares to raise ¥2.5 billion from SBI Holdings and SBI Asset Management in November, making them top shareholders.

* Airlines company ANA Holdings Inc. will partner with Sony Bank Inc. to provide a banking sales channel through its mileage program operator ANA X, which received a banking agent license Aug. 27, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.

* South Korea's Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission paused its review of Kakao Pay Corp.'s planned acquisition of Baro Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. due to an unrelated pending litigation case against Kakao Corp. Chairman Kim Beom-su, The Chosun Ilbo reported, citing financial authorities. Kakao Pay's brokerage acquisition will not likely be completed until the first half of 2020.

ASEAN

* According to data released by Indonesia's Financial Services Authority, sharia-compliant financing disbursed by Islamic commercial banks and sharia business units grew 12.9% year over year in the first half of 2019, Bisnis Indonesia reported. Islamic banks lent 333.1 trillion rupiah in the first half, up from 295 trillion rupiah in the year-ago period.

* Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said in a stock exchange filing that it has raised US$300 million from the issuance of five-year "sustainability" bonds. The U.S. dollar-denominated notes have a coupon rate of 3% per annum and were issued at 99.751%.

* The Singapore Academy of Law and the Monetary Authority of Singapore rolled out a pilot program to link legal service providers with financial technology firms, as part of efforts by the government to improve the city-state's fintech sector. Seven law firms have agreed to take part in the Payments Regulatory Evaluation Program to provide legal advice to qualifying payments companies.

SOUTH ASIA

* Following the Reserve Bank of India's decision to decline Equitas Holdings Ltd.'s request to extend the deadline to list its small finance banking subsidiary, the company has proposed a new plan to list Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd. by issuing shares of the unit to shareholders without cash consideration.

* Punjab National Bank has invited bids from asset reconstruction firms and other financial institutions as it placed 11 of its nonperforming assets accounts on the auction block in an effort to recover 12.34 billion Indian rupees worth of dues, the Press Trust of India reported, citing an advertisement by the bank.

* Bank of Baroda is looking to issue Tier 2 bonds in order to raise up to 30 billion rupees worth of capital, Business Standard reported. The proposed bond offering was made to meet capital adequacy requirements following the bank's three-way merger with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, which was completed April 1.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* The branch networks of National Australia Bank Ltd., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Westpac Banking Corp. accounted for 37% of total mortgages sales in the financial system, down by nearly half from 2013, as they face the growing popularity of small mortgage brokers, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing an analysis by UBS Group AG.

* Australia and New Zealand Banking may be forced to abandon its plan to repurchase billions of dollars of shares given a lack of clarity on whether the Australia Prudential Regulation Authority and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will agree on required capital levels for banks operating in each jurisdiction, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing Brendan Sproules, a banking analyst at Citi. Both regulators aim to ensure that banks hold enough capital to support the economy, which may result in Australian banks having to hold more capital in the two countries.

* ClearView Wealth Ltd. appointed Orla Cowan chief risk officer and Greg Martin general manager for strategy, Insurance Business Australia reported, citing ClearView Managing Director Simon Swanson. Cowan was formerly the head of CIO governance at ANZ Global Wealth, while Martin was previously chief actuary and risk officer at ClearView.

Janna Estares, Emily Lai, Jonathan Cheah, Jaekwon Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi 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.