S&P Global MarketIntelligence offers our top picks of banking news stories and more publishedthroughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links tothird-party sources that may require a subscription.
Big Chinese bank IPO, othershare sales
*Postal Savings Bank of China Co.Ltd., the fifth-largest Chinese lender by assets, HK$57.60 billion, orUS$7.42 billion, in its Hong Kong IPO, the biggest in value globally sinceAlibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s US$25 billion offering in September 2014.
*China's Bank of Hangzhou Co.Ltd. is seeking toraise about 3.77 billion yuan by selling 261,750,000 shares at14.39 yuan each in its Shanghai IPO.
*Meanwhile, Chongqing RuralCommercial Bank Co. Ltd. obtained regulatory approval for its proposed IPO inShanghai. Backin April, the bank said it was looking to issue up to 1,357,000,000 shares inthe proposed offering.
*Postal Savings Bank of China priced its IPO of 12.11 billion new shares at HK$4.76apiece. While the price is toward the bottom end of an initial indicative rangeof HK$4.68 to HK$5.18, it represents 0.95x estimated 2016 book value, a biggermultiple than current levels for any of the Hong Kong-traded stocks of the fourbiggest Chinese banks.
WhilePostal Savings Bank of China was able to clear the shares on offer at thatvaluation, largely thanks to backing from government-tied institutions, itsshares could be a hard sell in the secondary market as many investors may findits business unglamorous.
Monetary policy, regulatorydevelopments
*The Bank of Japan refrained from revising its interest rates and insteaddecided to modify its existingpolicy framework to target 10-year interest rates. The newframework consists of two major components: a "yield curve control"and a commitment to expanding the monetary base until the year-over-year rateof increase in the consumer price index exceeds 2%.
*Bank Indonesiacut its benchmarkinterest rate by 25 basis points to 5%. The central bank also lowered itsdeposit and lending facility rates by 25 basis points to 4.25% and 5.75%,respectively.
*The Reserve Bank of NewZealand left theofficial cash rate unchanged at 2% but signaled the possibility of furthereasing in the future to ensure that inflation remains within its target range.
*Similarly, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas decided to maintain the interest rate on its overnightreverse repurchase facility at 3%.
*The Hong Kong MonetaryAuthority is releasing an enhanced competency framework rules on cybersecurity andmoney laundering.
*In more cybersecuritynews, the Reserve Bank of India ordered banks to immediately report all cyberattacksafter some lenders failed to report such breaches to avoid negative publicity.
*Indonesia's FinancialServices Authority, or OJK, asked the local affiliates of Singapore lenders tosupport the Southeast Asian country's tax amnesty program.
* InTaiwan, the Financial Supervisory Commission fined CTBCBank Co. Ltd. NT$3 million and barred it from engaging in trustbusiness of public tender offer business for three months.
*Meanwhile, the China Banking Regulatory Commission totaling 15.06 millionyuan on 44 financial institutions, including state-owned banks, in the thirdquarter.
M&A updates
* the acquisition of a 49% stakein Union KBC Asset Management Co. Pvt. Ltd. and Union KBC Trustee Co. Pvt. Ltd.The bank acquired the stake from KBC Participations Renta SA and KBC AssetManagement NV.
*Bank of the PhilippineIslands completed the acquisition of the remaining 60% stake inBPI Globe BanKO from Globe Telecom Inc. and Ayala Corp.
*will merge its units,Yuanta Commercial Bank Co.Ltd. and Ta ChongBank Ltd., through a share swap deal.
*General Electric Co. received interests from three private equity firms forits 43% stake in South Korea's Hyundai Card Co. Ltd. A sale of the stake may fetch morethan 600 billion South Korean won.
* obtained in-principle regulatory approval to merge withVinaconex-Viettel Finance JSC and to create a new consumer credit subsidiary.The State Bank of Vietnam approved the merger plan, which shareholders of the twocompanies approved in 2015.
In other news
*China's banks are showing some of the biggest signs of early warning indicatorsfor stress of any lenders in the world, with the ratio of credit to GDPexceeding long-term trends by 30.1%, the Bank for International Settlementssaid.
*settled a legal dispute with Pankaj and Radhika Oswalover the sale of the couple's Burrup Fertilisers business in 2010.
*Bank of China Ltd.'sBank of China - New YorkBranch was appointed as the first yuan clearing bank in the U.S.
* and signeda memorandum of understanding tocooperate in various areas, including won-yuan settlement.
*Officials of are set to facecharges from the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council inconnection with the bank's involvement in the cybertheft of funds from BangladeshBank.
* in a U.S.-based fintechfirm involved in blockchain technology. The bank invested an undisclosed amountin San Francisco-based Ripple through its fintech unit, Digital Ventures.
*Sumitomo Mitsui Trust HoldingsInc. and Nagano BankLtd. will both conduct 1-for-10 reverse stock splits .
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UPDATE: Bankof Japan gives relief to lenders with new interest rate target