* Alipay, a unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Ant Financial, will extend its partnership with U.S.-based payments processor First Data Corp. to reach more than six million retailers in geographies apart from the U.S., South China Morning Post reported.
* China Minsheng Investment Group Corp Ltd. led a group of firms investing 1.8 billion yuan in a pre-IPO round of peer-to-peer lender Tuandaiwang, DealStreetAsia reported.
* Singapore-based fintech startup Bank-Genie raised a "significant" amount of funds from Japan's SBI Holdings Inc. and Netherlands' Development Finance Company's joint SBI FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund in Series A funding, DealStreetAsia reported.
GREATER CHINA
* China's financial regulators are requiring financial institutions to start due diligence procedures and collect financial information on a number of accounts from July 1, marking the start of a localized common reporting standard through legislation, Shanghai Financial News reported. Under the legislation, financial institutions must complete due diligence on account holders with an aggregated balance of more than US$1 million before the end of 2017.
* China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. said that the bank's recent client information leak loophole had been restored but denied the seriousness of the leakage, Caixin reported.
* China's central bank said that the country's investment grade bonds may be graded at AA- or above, Caixin reported. The central bank's work paper said that the dividing line between investment grade bonds and speculation grade bonds is AA- in China instead of the internationally adopted BBB -.
JAPAN AND KOREA
* The president of Kinki Osaka Bank Ltd., an affiliate of Resona Holdings Inc., told The Nikkei that the lender is in the final stages of a business merger with Kansai Urban Banking Corp. and Minato Bank Ltd., which is expected to conclude by September.
* Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. and Japanese dispensing pharmacy Nihon Chouzai has begun operating its seven joint branches as part of the first phase of their business merger, The Nikkei reported.
* According to Bank of Korea data, as of March 31, the total balance of corporate loans that the country's savings institutions hold reached the record high of 1,001.7 trillion won since 2008, up 16.1 trillion won from the same period last year, the DongA Ilbo reported.
* According to a report released by South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, the total number of nonperforming loans that the country's commercial and state-run banks own has decreased for four consecutive quarters to 23.7 trillion won as of March 31, down 7.6 trillion won from the prior-year period, the Korea Herald reported.
ASEAN
* Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. - Cabang Jakarta issued 1.5 trillion Indonesian rupiah of negotiable certificates of deposit for credit expansion, Bisnis Indonesia reported, citing Deputy General Manager Pancaran Affendi.
* PT Bank Victoria International Tbk aims to push down nonperforming loans to 3% in the third quarter from 3.98% in the first quarter, Bisnis Indonesia reported. Separately, the publication said Bank Victoria would issue continuous bonds worth 1 trillion rupiah.
* AFFIN Holdings Bhd. booked a 4% increase in net profit in the first quarter of 2017 to 120.18 million Malaysian ringgit, The Sun reported.
SOUTH ASIA
* IDBI Bank Ltd. may take 10 corporate loan defaulters to India's National Company Law Tribunal as it looks to recover 50 billion rupees during 2017-18 fiscal year, Business Standard reported. The lender posted a widening fourth-quarter loss and received downgraded ratings from Moody's and Fitch.
* City Union Bank Ltd. posted a net profit increase of about 15% in the fourth quarter with 1.29 billion rupees, from 1.12 billion rupees in the year-ago period. The full-year profit for fiscal 2017 moved up to 5.03 billion rupees from 4.45 billion rupees.
* Syndicate Bank Ltd. said its board approved raising 35 billion rupees during 2017-18 fiscal year through a qualified institutional placement, a rights issue and preferential allotment, among other options. The increase is subject to regulatory approvals.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* AMP Group Finance Services Ltd. will raise its interest only rates by 28 basis points along with doubling the amount of minimum deposit required for mortgages, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* Treasury Secretary John Fraser downplayed Australian banks' concerns that the bank levy of A$6.2 billion would have a disruptive effect on interest rates and said it should have a trivial impact, The Guardian reported.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Middle East & Africa: Moody's acts on 3 Gulf countries; GCB shareholders reject board pay raise
Europe: Banks gain time on Basel III; L&G unit picks post-Brexit hub; Italian NPLs fall
Latin America: New CEO at BNDES; Bancrédito to sell commercial loan portfolio
Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
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