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Chinese bank gets Hong Kong IPO approval; Japan mulls further easing in October

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Chinese bank gets Hong Kong IPO approval; Japan mulls further easing in October

GREATER CHINA

* China's Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd. is expected to name He Qing chairman following his appointment as the brokerage's communist party secretary Sept. 23, Caixin reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. He is currently president of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd.

* As much as 465 million shares of Bank of Hebei Co. Ltd. held by Zhongcheng Construction Investment Holdings Ltd. went unsold at an online auction on Alibaba's platform, Sohu Finance reported. The equities have an appraised value of 2.31 billion yuan, and the starting bid was 1.87 billion yuan.

* The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has approved Xinjiang Huihe Bank Co. Ltd.'s plans to issue up to 471 million H-shares in its Hong Kong IPO bid, National Business Daily reported. The bank's total assets stood at 31.5 billion yuan as of the end of 2018, lower than most other publicly listed Chinese banks in Hong Kong.

* SinoPac Financial Holdings Co. Ltd. and its Bank SinoPac Co. Ltd. unit filed a lawsuit against Michael Chang, former president of the latter, accusing him of breach of trust over the sale of its U.S. unit to Cathay General Bancorp in 2016, the Taipei Times reported. Chang is alleged to have sold Far East National Bank at lower than market value. SinoPac also filed a civil lawsuit against Morgan Stanley and is claiming compensation of US$69.3 million, alleging that it did not fulfill its duties or exercise due care in the transaction.

JAPAN AND KOREA

* The Bank of Japan may implement further easing measures by October-end and December, The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported, citing Dai-ichi Life Research Institute's chief economist. The central bank said it would review economic trends in its next policy meeting in late October. Yoshitaka Kato, a former BOJ member, expects the regulator to introduce more measures should the financial market signal a significant turn for the worse.

* South Korean IT conglomerates NAVER Corp. and Kakao Corp. are looking to enter the country's insurance market by offering insurance products on their respective platforms by the first half of 2020, The Korea Times reported, citing the two companies.

* South Korea's financial technology firms have expressed reluctance in applying to become the country's next internet-only bank, despite plans by the Financial Services Commission to receive initial applications from companies in October, The Korea Times reported. The FSC said it would provide consulting services to encourage firms to apply.

ASEAN

* The Stock Exchange of Thailand and Clearstream Banking SA, a Luxembourg-based central securities depository, are collaborating to give Thai and overseas investors the ability to conduct cross-border fund transactions through a link between the Thai bourse's mutual fund platform FundConnext and Clearstream's global fund processing platform Vestima from Sept. 23.

* Bangkok-based AIRA & AIFUL Public Co. Ltd, a loan cash card provider, appointed COO Yuji Fukada its new CEO, effective Aug. 1, following Katsuhiko Madono's retirement at the end of his term, Krungthep Turakij reported.

* Indonesian private lender PT Bank Permata Tbk is looking to achieve 2 trillion Indonesian rupiah in profit for the 2020 financial year, Bisnis Indonesia reported. Bank Permata CEO Ridha Wirakusumah said the bank could post earnings of more than 1 trillion rupiah in 2019. The bank has struggled to cut bad loans in previous years and has suffered a loss of 6.5 trillion rupiah in 2016.

* IT company CMC Corp. is divesting its shares in Bao Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank to other investors, Viet Nam News reported. CMC was one of the founding shareholders of the Vietnamese bank and had invested 324 billion dong into the bank as of June 30.

SOUTH ASIA

* Japan-based Nippon Life Insurance Co.'s acquisition of Reliance Capital Ltd.'s stake in joint venture Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd. is expected to be completed by the end of September, the Press Trust of India reported, citing Sundeep Sikka, CEO of the joint venture. After the deal closes, Reliance Capital will receive 60 billion rupees for its stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and exit the joint venture, while Nippon Life will boost its stake to 75% from 42.88%.

* India's ICICI Bank Ltd. said in a release that it plans to add 450 branches in the current fiscal year. The lender said that among these branches, 320 are currently in operation while 130 will be open for business by the end of the fiscal year.

* State Bank of India plans to adopt the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate as its external benchmark for floating rate loans for businesses in the micro, small and midsize enterprises segment as well as home and retail categories, effective Oct. 1, in order to meet regulatory requirements, the Press Trust of India reported.

* India-based Manappuram Finance Ltd. will raise up to 4.65 billion rupees in capital by issuing secured, redeemable nonconvertible debentures in a private placement. The instruments will have a face value of 1 million rupees each for the amount of 2.15 billion rupees with a oversubscription option of up to 2.50 billion rupees.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* American International Group Inc. is said to be interested in acquiring Westpac Banking Corp.'s life insurance arm if it goes out the market, The Australian reported, citing unnamed sources. The publication earlier reported that the Australian bank hired JPMorgan to review a potential sale of the A$1.5 billion business.

* Deutsche Bank AG's equities team in Australia is expected to be absorbed by BNP Paribas SA's local unit following an agreement to transfer the former's global prime finance and electronic equities client portfolio to BNP Paribas, The Australian Financial Review reported. James Jennings, head of global prime finance in Sydney, will be heading the transfer of about 25 staff at Deutsche Bank's equities team.

* Westpac has further lowered its serviceability floor for mortgage loans to 5.35% from 5.75% in July, The Australian Financial Review reported. The new rate will take effect Sept. 30 at all its brands, including Bank of Melbourne Ltd. and BankSA.

* Moody's said Australian banks' profitability will likely weaken in the next 12 to 18 months due to slow loan growth, intense competition and falling interest rates. However, recent reductions in lending rates and a rebound in the housing market will help banks maintain a strong asset quality.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Middle East & Africa: Investec warns of lower fiscal H1 profit; US sanctions Iran's central bank

Europe: Commerzbank job cuts; Deutsche, BNP ink equities deal; UniCredit names chairman

Latin America: Banco do Brasil share offering expected in October; SoftBank in Brazil

North America: Citi only big US bank to commit to UN climate principles; IEX exits listings biz

Global Insurance: Dual storms; OneConnect IPO; PG&E insurance deal; Travelers portfolio transfer

R Sio, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.

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