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HKEX to up LSE offer; Yes Bank in talks with tech firms

GREATER CHINA

* Liu Shiyu was removed from his post as chief of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and received a five-month suspension for making allegedly inappropriate speeches and violating confidentiality rules. Liu was found to have used his public role for personal gain and accepted bribes to help relatives acquire residential properties.

* Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. is expected to raise its £32 billion takeover offer for London Stock Exchange Group PLC this week following discussions with some LSE shareholders, The Times reported, citing unnamed sources. Meanwhile, some shareholders of the Hong Kong bourse are said to oppose the bid, citing regulatory and business uncertainties, the South China Morning Post reported.

* The Monetary Authority of Hong Kong said in a statement that the government would not impose a daily limit on the amount of cash withdrawn from banks, reiterating that the city's banking system is robust and sound with a sufficient supply of banknotes to meet public demand.

* The debt financing instrument market in China has grown to more than 11 trillion yuan in size, China Daily reported, citing data by the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors. According to the data, debt financing instruments issued by nonfinancial firms increased 30% in the first half compared with the year-ago period.

JAPAN AND KOREA

* Japan's Financial Services Agency will increase its surveillance of sales practices at Japanese life insurance companies to protect consumers from forceful and overt marketing practices, Tokyo's The Nikkei reported. The regulator will also strengthen the criteria for approving new life insurance products.

* South Korean brokerages operated 928 branches as of June, a decrease of 73 outlets from the year-ago period due to pressure from a shift toward online trading, The Korea Times reported. Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. Ltd. closed 63 branches over the past year. KB Securities Co. Ltd., meanwhile, shuttered all but eight branches. The report also noted that this is the first time the number of brokerage branches had fallen below 1,000.

* South Korea's Woori Bank said it has completed an upgrade of its risk management systems to comply with U.S. regulatory standards, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported.

ASEAN

* Land & Houses Bank PCL plans to proactively focus on housing loans in 2020 as it looks to lend 8 billion baht during the year to middle- and high-income customers, Thailand's Krungthep Turakij reported. Further, the bank said it would boost efforts to penetrate the country's trade finance market.

* The State Bank of Vietnam's National Credit Information Center has cut the cost of credit information products and services it gives to lenders and credit institutions by 15%, effective Oct. 1, Viet Nam News reported. The agency made these cuts to help commercial banks lower interest rates following a rate cut last month.

* Thailand's Bangkok Commercial Asset Management PCL has acquired 10 billion baht of bad loans and assets since January, against a full-year target of 8 billion baht, Bangkok Post reported, citing the company's president, Somporn Moonsrikaew. The state-owned asset manager expects to buy up to 15 billion baht worth of bad loans and assets in the year.

* First Metro Asset Management Inc., a unit of Manila-based First Metro Investment Corp., entered into a partnership with the Model Cooperative Network, a local federation of savings and credit cooperatives, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. The two entities will establish a mutual fund that would provide active fund management services to cooperative members.

SOUTH ASIA

* The Reserve Bank of India lifted the lending limit for loans from microfinance institutions to 125,000 rupees from 100,000 rupees. The central bank also widened the bracket for eligibility for microfinance loans. The threshold for borrowers in rural areas was increased to 125,000 rupees from 100,000 rupees, while the limit in urban and semi-urban areas was raised to 200,000 rupees from 160,000 rupees.

* The Reserve Bank of India also announced the creation of an internal ombudsman scheme at large nonbank prepaid payment instrument issuers with more than 10 million such instruments outstanding. The mechanism builds on the ombudsman scheme for digital transactions announced earlier in the year and is intended to quickly address complaints and grievances.

* India's Yes Bank Ltd. is in talks with Microsoft Corp. and two other technology firms to potentially invest in the troubled lender as strategic shareholders, Mint reported, citing two people aware of the talks. As part of a possible agreement, the bank could cede a 15% equity stake and a seat on its board to the strategic shareholder.

* IndusInd Bank Ltd. CEO Romesh Sobti said that the risk from the crisis in the Indian nonbank financial sector is receding and the bank has received repayments on loans from some troubled borrowers, Bloomberg News reported. The lender had struggled over its exposures to stressed nonbank financial firms Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd., International Leasing and Financial Services Ltd. and Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd..

* The State Bank of Pakistan said it levied fines worth 63.81 million rupees on Meezan Bank Ltd., 56.61 million rupees on Askari Bank Ltd. and 12.91 million rupees on MCB Islamic Bank Ltd. in September for procedural violations in customer due diligence and know-your-customer areas.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* The Australian Securities and Investments Commission charged Commonwealth Bank of Australia unit Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd. with 87 counts of hawking offenses for selling products over noncompliant and unsolicited phone calls. The life insurer faces a maximum penalty of 125 penalty units, or A$21,250 in connection with the charges brought against it by the regulator.

* Australia’s Perpetual Ltd. has begun laying off staff across its operations and marketing teams, The Australian reported, citing unnamed internal sources. The firm is expected to reduce its headcount by up to 100 as part of a cost-cutting initiative.

* A number of banks operating in Australia including Members Equity Bank Ltd., HSBC Holdings PLC, Macquarie Group Ltd., ING Groep NV and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank Ltd. said they will reduce standard variable home loan rates by 15 basis points in response to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate cut, The Australian Financial Review reported.

* Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. plans to introduce a debt-to-income policy from Oct. 21, The Australian Financial Review reported, under which it will look more closely into a loan applicant’s finances to identify those with lesser disposable incomes. Further, the bank plans to amend its policy on how it determines high-risk areas in order to warrant stricter loan provisions.

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

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