* BPCE SA CEO Francois Perol told The Nikkei that the company is looking to increase the proportion of profits from its investment banking business in Asia to 15% in the next two years. The French company is considering floating yen-denominated bonds in Japan and looking at possible mergers and acquisitions of asseappt management divisions in China, ahead of the country's easing of foreign investment regulations.
GREATER CHINA
* International banks in China may see accelerated growth in one to two years, following a decade of bleak performance in their Chinese operations, according to S&P Global Ratings. A slowdown in local banks' business expansion triggered by regulatory policy and the government's easing supervision and support for foreign lenders' increased participation in the domestic financial market will help revive the growth of overseas banks in the country, said Panpan Bu, an analyst at the rating agency.
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s Tenpay were fined 600,000 yuan each for breaching cross-border payment service regulations, Caixin reported.
* Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. will include actively traded equity index options including Hang Seng Index Options and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Options, among others, to its after-hours trading in the derivatives market. The changes are expected to take effect during the second quarter following regulatory approval.
* Legislators and brokers in Hong Kong are urging the government and financial authorities to further tighten regulatory oversight on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, following similar decisions made by China, the U.S. and Germany, the South China Morning Post reported.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* Japan's Financial Services Agency is expected to conduct on-site inspections of some virtual currency marketplace operators during the week, The Nikkei reported. The decision to enforce stricter oversight would likely prompt operators to focus on consumer safety, the publication noted.
* A joint venture by Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. will offer a smartphone-based asset management service targeting the former's young customer base, The Nikkei reported. KDDI is said to have more than 10 million customers in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
* Japan's large banks and credit card companies will tighten rules on cryptocurrency, The Nikkei reported. Resona Holdings Inc. is expected to introduce internal guidelines to closely monitor new and existing accounts of virtual currency fund transfer services companies to prevent money laundering risk, while credit card company JCB said it would stop accepting new applications.
* Starting Feb. 8, high-interest loan products in South Korea will be adjusted to a fixed interest rate of 24%, after a bill relating to such products was passed in January, the Dong-A Ilbo reported. The country's seven credit card companies also agreed to apply the same policy to existing loans.
ASEAN
* The Bank of Thailand expects local commercial banks to withdraw a total of 46 billion baht worth of banknotes in the two weeks leading up to the Chinese New Year holiday, Post Today reported, citing Woraporn Tangsaghasaksri, assistant governor of the regulator's banknote management group.
* The Indonesian government is urging the lower house of its legislative branch to ratify the sixth ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services protocol into law, which would allow national banks to expand operations to neighboring countries, the Jakarta Globe reported.
* Indonesian securities company PT. Minna Padi Investama Sekuritas Tbk. failed to acquire PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia Tbk with the expiry of the companies' conditional share subscription agreement Dec. 31, 2017, Kompas reported.
* PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk CEO Kartika Wirjoatmodjo said the company is delaying plans to acquire a bank in the Philippines and is now focusing on improving bad loans in 2018, Kompas reported.
* Malaysia Building Society Bhd. has completed the acquisition of a whole stake in Asian Finance Bank Bhd. for 645 million ringgit, Berita Harian reported. The merger will make Malaysia Building Society the second-largest bank in the country, with total assets of 47.81 billion ringgit.
SOUTH ASIA
* The Reserve Bank of India maintained its repo rate at 6.0% in a 5-1 vote, noting a continuing rise in inflation.
* India's central bank plans to introduce an ombudsman scheme for nonbanking finance companies to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism for the companies' customers by the end of February, The Economic Times reported. The central bank will initiate the scheme with NBFCs that take deposits and have an asset size value of 1 billion rupees.
* City Union Bank Ltd.'s net profit grew 22% to 1.54 billion Indian rupees for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, from 1.27 billion rupees in the year-ago period, The Hindu Business Line reported. N.V. Narayanan Kamakodi, the bank's CEO and managing director, attributed the increase in net income to robust growth in net interest income, which jumped to 3.65 billion rupees in the fiscal third quarter from 3.07 billion rupees in the prior-year period.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* The Reserve Bank of New Zealand maintained its official cash rate at 1.75%, as global economic growth continues to improve. The central bank noted that although global inflation remains subdued, there are signs of emerging pressures.
* National Australia Bank Ltd. posted cash earnings of A$1.65 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, up from A$1.6 billion in the prior-year period.
* AMP Ltd. posted a net profit attributable to shareholders of A$848 million, or a profit of 29.1 cents per share, compared with a net loss of A$344 million, or a loss of 11.7 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
* Westpac Banking Corp. and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. have to pay a combined compensation of more than A$20 million for increasing credit card limits for customers going through financial difficulties and for not properly disclosing fees, The Australian reported.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia's NCB posts YOY rise in Q4'17 profit; Kenya eyes 1st green bond
Europe: Profits rise for RBI, ABN AMRO; Hannover Re ups 2017 net income target
Latin America: Galicia divestment deal completed; BB Seguridade, Mapfre agree to redraw JV
North America: California treasurer wants 4 Wells directors gone
North America Insurance: Canada's Manulife may sell US assets; Genworth renews deal application
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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