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China's Anbang to exit securities unit; Mitsui Sumitomo to buy BoCommLife stake

GREATER CHINA

* China's Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. is selling its 91.65% stake in Century Securities Co. Ltd. for at least 3.56 billion yuan, in what will be its first asset divestment after local authorities seized control of the insurer for breaching insurance laws, Reuters reported, citing the state takeover group in its filings to China Beijing Equity Exchange. The exchange will run an auction if more than one entity bids for the stake, the news outlet said.

* Bank of Shanghai Co. Ltd. said it would formulate a plan to stabilize its stock price by June 5, as it had been below its audited net asset per share of 16.27 yuan for 20 straight trade days, Reuters reported.

* Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission gave a go-ahead to First Commercial Bank Co. Ltd. to apply for the establishment of a Frankfurt branch with Germany's financial regulator, the island's Central News Agency reported. If the application is approved, First Commercial Bank will be the first Taiwanese lender to have a branch in Germany.

* Taiwan's financial regulator also said the pretax profits of the island's banks increased 5.1% year over year to NT$95.93 billion in the first quarter, United Daily reported. The assets of the banking industry on the island totaled NT$60.67 trillion, the highest in history.

JAPAN AND KOREA

* Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. will spend over ¥70 billion to acquire a 37.5% stake in China's BoCommLife Insurance Co. Ltd. held by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported, without citing a source. The Japanese insurer is now seeking approval from Chinese financial authorities for the acquisition, the publication said. BoCommLife is 62.5% owned by Bank of Communications Co. Ltd.

* Japan-based Shoko Chukin Bank Ltd. submitted a business improvement plan to the country's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry over a loan scandal, The Mainichi Shimbun reported. Outside directors will represent more than half of the bank's board, with more than one-third of the lender's branches to be consolidated.

* Japan Bank for International Cooperation will nominate Tadashi Maeda, the current executive managing director and CEO of the company, as its governor, marking the first such internal promotion in its top management, The Nikkei reported.

* Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. suspended South Korea-based Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd.'s trading privileges for two months from May 22, citing inadequate compliance with client information requests, The Chosun Ilbo reported.

* The Bank of Korea is expected to keep its seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 1.5% at its monetary policy meeting on May 24, The Korea Times reported, citing a survey by the Korea Financial Investment Association. The central bank last raised the rate from 1.25% in November 2017.

ASEAN

* Indonesia's Financial Service Authority has frozen five local financial companies — PT Asia Multidana, PT Capital Link Finance, PT PANN Pembiayaan Maritim, PT Kembang 88 Multifinance and PT SNP Finance — over a number of violations, including delayed reporting, decline in financial ratios and shareholders' neglect, The Jakarta Post reported, citing Moch. Ihsanuddin, the regulator's deputy commissioner for nonbanking financial industry. The authority will look into the progress of the five companies before deciding whether to shutter them or allow them to resume operations.

* Indonesia-based PT Bank Bukopin Tbk named Mustafa Abubakar its independent lead commissioner for the 2018 to 2023 period, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

* Indonesia's PT Bank Syariah Bukopin appointed Eddy Cahyono as a director, replacing Aris Wahyudi, Infobank reported. The appointment is subject to Cahyono passing the fit and proper criteria of the country's Financial Services Authority.

* Bank Indonesia said the net interest margin of local lenders should be around 2.5% instead of the current 5%, which is considered excessive, Bisnis Indonesia reported. The central bank, however, said this falls under the supervision of the country's Financial Services Authority.

* Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya PCL rolled out a real-time international money transfer service between Thailand and Singapore through the use of Krungsri Blockchain Interledger, allowing a transaction to be completed in a few seconds, Thailand's Manager Daily reported.

* Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng confirmed that the country's debt exceeded 1 trillion ringgit, well above the debt the previous government had disclosed, the country's New Straits Times reported. The 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, financial scandal, as well as mega projects by the previous administration, contributed to the debt, Lim said.

SOUTH ASIA

* State Bank of India is considering divesting stakes in some of its subsidiaries over the next two years, Press Trust of India reported. Chairman Rajnish Kumar said the lender plans to bring in a partner for SBI Capital Markets Ltd. and to divest about 24% to 49% of the unit. Meanwhile, Dinesh Khara, managing director for risk, IT and subsidiaries, said the bank looks to sell about a 3% to 5% stake in SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd. in 2018, and list SBI Card in fiscal 2020.

* The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India is expected to accept a recommendation to remove General Insurance Corp. of India's first preference over foreign reinsurers in a number of business segments, including aviation, marine hull and life, CNBC TV18 reported, citing unnamed sources. India's order of preference gives GIC Re an edge over foreign reinsurers, the report said.

* India-based Andhra Bank posted a stand-alone net loss for the fourth quarter ended March 31 of 25.36 billion rupees, or a loss of 28.58 rupees per share, compared with a net profit of 351.2 million rupees, or a profit of 52 paise per share, in the year-ago quarter. For the fiscal year, the lender reported a consolidated net loss attributed to the group of 33.66 billion rupees, or a loss of 38.41 rupees per share, against a net profit of 2.07 billion rupees, or a profit of 3.04 rupees per share, in the prior year.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Australia's Westpac Banking Corp. was found to have repeatedly contacted the owner of a failed business to demand repayment of a loan worth A$362,500, marking the second time the bank was slammed over how it approved loans to small enterprises, Reuters reported, citing a hearing at the country's royal commission. Alastair Welsh, Westpac's head of commercial banking, said he agreed with a comment that the company's procedure for approving business loans was "more form than substance."

* Australian financial services company AMP Ltd. is in talks with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority over the future of its life insurance business, which has been up for sale for over a year, The Australian reported. Meanwhile, Robert Coombe, who heads Generation Development Group Ltd., formerly Austock Group, was approached to take the vacant CEO role at AMP. Coombe, however, turned down the offer, according to the newspaper.

* New Zealand's Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi unveiled a public consultation on the country's insurance contract law, noting that some of the local regulations were outdated and the significant problems with the law diminish the effectiveness of domestic insurance markets, BusinessDesk reported. The public consultation will close July 13.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Middle East & Africa: US funds vying for Abraaj unit; Ghana steps up bank consolidation efforts

Europe: SFO charges vs. Barclays dismissed; Dubai bank to buy Sberbank's Turkish unit

Latin America: ICBC Peru gets capital hike; Supervielle's Q1 income more than doubles

North America: Wells Fargo to resume auto lending growth; First Midwest to close 19 branches

North America Insurance: US uninsured rate flat; The Hartford in play for Aspen; Icahn gets support

Janna Estares, Sally Wang, Jonathan Cheah, Jaekwon Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.

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