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UK approves PSC Insurance deal; IFC names Singapore head

GREATER CHINA

* Agricultural Development Bank of China partnered with online lender Mybank to launch an online lending service to small and micro-sized businesses, Shanghai Securities News reported. The service generated 3.8 billion yuan of loans to 1,391 clients within the first hour of its launch.

* Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd, an offshore subsidiary of Huatai Securities Co. Ltd., joined the London Stock Exchange to trade in financial products including U.K. and international equities, derivatives and depositary receipts.

* Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. repurchased 5 billion yuan of A-shares as of the end of August at a price range of 79.85 yuan to 91.43 yuan per share.

* Securitization issuance in China continued to grow in the second quarter, with securitization transactions amounting to 250.6 billion yuan, Moody's said. The rating agency said Chinese bank-originated residential mortgage-backed securities continue to perform well, citing prudent underwriting standards and mortgage policies that aim to curb housing market speculation.

JAPAN AND KOREA

* Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd. said it opened a representative office in Sydney.

* MUFG Bank Ltd. appointed Yasushi Itagaki, managing executive officer, as president of its PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk unit, effective Oct. 1, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.

* JKL Partners Inc. plans to boost its capital by 375 billion won after the company receives regulatory approval to acquire Lotte Insurance Co. Ltd., The Chosun Ilbo reported, citing the private equity firm. Hotel Lotte Co. Ltd. will take part in the capital increase to maintain a stake in Lotte Insurance.

ASEAN

* Thailand's Bitcoin Co. Ltd. said it decided to discontinue offering digital exchange and wallet services "to focus on other business opportunities." After Sept. 30, investors may continue to withdraw their funds but will not be able to trade on the company's online platform.

* International Finance Corp. named Nicolas Marquier country head for Singapore. Marquier earlier served as adviser to the CEO of IFC.

* S&P Global Ratings maintained its stable outlook on rated Malaysian banks despite increased risks to the system such as the ongoing trade disputes between China and the U.S., dampened domestic business sentiment and continuously soft commodities prices. Ratings analyst Rujun Duan said these factors have yet to affect the banks' ratings.

* CIMB Thai Bank PCL appointed Oranuch Apisaksirikul, Niti Jungnitnirundr and Natasak Rodjanapiches independent directors, Thailand's Post Today reported.

SOUTH ASIA

* India's finance department asked public sector banks to initiate reforms on their boards such as forming a risk committee and combining the nomination and remuneration committees, The Economic Times reported, citing a letter to the banks.

* A steering committee established to study India's financial technology landscape submitted its final report to the Ministry of Finance. Among other recommendations, the committee suggested that all financial sector regulators adopt regulation technology to develop standards for fintech in the financial sector.

* The Reserve Bank of India will likely lift operating restrictions on Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank and United Bank of India by the end of 2019 after the government injects additional capital into the lenders, the Press Trust of India reported, citing Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar. The government said it plans to infuse a combined capital of 108 billion rupees into the banks.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Australia's PSC Insurance Group Ltd. received approval from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority for its planned acquisition of U.K.-based Paragon International Holdings Ltd., Insurance Business Australia reported, citing the company. The deal is expected to be completed in September, and is subject to one minor remaining condition precedent, the company said.

* The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued its final report on its inquiry into the supply of foreign currency conversion services, or FX services, suggesting that the industry allow more nonbank suppliers of international money transfers to improve competition in the market and make prices of FX services more transparent.

* BT Financial Group Pty Ltd.'s general manager of superannuation, Melinda Howes, backed the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's plan to publicly appraise the performance of superannuation funds, The Australian Financial Review reported. Some industry players have criticized the plan on fears that investors would redeem investments on certain funds.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Middle East & Africa: AUB completes due diligence on takeover bid; Lebanese bank denies US allegations

Europe: Danske's overcharging case; Julius Bär to keep Kairos; HSBC targets UK mortgages

Latin America: Currency controls return to Argentina; Dominican Republic cuts benchmark rate

R Sio, Emily Lai, Jonathan Cheah, Jaekwon Lim and Santibhap Ussavasodhi contributed to this report.

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Descriptions of credit ratings in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings. The original S&P Global Ratings document referred to in this news brief can be found here.