News

Central Huijin to participate in ICBC’s move to replenish capital following successful attempts of the bank’s rivals.

ICBC opened a branch Bangkok to mark its foray into the Thai market. The new Branch, formerly ACL Bank before being acquired by ICBC, was officially renamed as ICBC (Thai) Public Company Limited or ICBC Thai.

TBB will to promote personnel exchange and renminbi-based loans to Taiwanese enterprises in China. A MOU with the Bank of Beijing will be signed. According to the China Economic News Services, Taiwan Business Bank or TBB will set up a representative office in Shanghai by the end of this year. It may  be upgraded to branch a year later.   Mr. Peter T. C. Lo, chairman of TBB, indicated that financial institutions in China can obtain better profits than its counterparts in Taiwan since they see much higher interest rate gap of 5-6 percentage points. So, TBB will explore the financial market in China after inking the MOU with Bank of Beijing or BOB and establishing a foothold in Shanghai.

 Unrestricted Level I ADR facilities for Taiwanese companies could greatly expand overseas investment opportunities in Taiwan, says BNY Mellon.

Moody's upgraded the long-term ratings of three big policy banks in China to Aa3 from A1. The three banks are China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China, and Agricultural Development Bank of China. China Development Bank’s  long-term foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating was upgraded to Aa3 from A1. While Export-Import Bank of China’s long-term domestic and foreign currency senior unsecured debt ratings was upgraded to Aa3 from A1. On the other hand, Agricultural Development Bank of China’s long-term foreign currency was also issuer rating upgraded to Aa3 from A1. The action follows Moody's decision to upgrade China's long-term foreign currency sovereign rating to Aa3 with a positive outlook from A1. The banks' baseline credit assessments are also changed to 4 from 5, on a scale of 1 to 21, where 1 represents lowest credit risk. The action reflects Moody's view that the banks will continue to receive full support from the government as 100 per cent state-owned banks. Although the government has begun to initiate reforms to operate the banks more based on commercial interest, state ownership in these entities is not expected to change during Moody's rating horizon.  

The bank raised its home loan rate by almost double the Reserve Bank's interest 0.25% official rate rise to fund its increasing costs.

Board appoints Chief Executive Larry Klane as the next chairman to supervise the sale of its 51% stake.

Moody's downgraded Shinsei Bank Limited's bank financial strength rating to D- from D+.

The Public Bank achieved a pre-tax profit of US$958.6 million for the first nine months of 2010. The figure represents a 22 per cent growth from the corresponding period in 2009. Over the same period, the Group recorded a net profit of US$712.5 million, 20 per cent higher as compared to US$595.5 million achieved in the corresponding period in 2009.

BOC recorded a profit after tax of US$12.48 billion in the first three quarters of 2010, an increase of 27.48 per cent compared with the same period of 2009. The Bank of China achieved profit attributable to equity holders of US$11.9 billion, an increase of 27.70 per cent compared with the same period of 2009. As at 30 September 2010, The Bank's total assets amounted to US$1.52 trillion, an increase of 15.43 per cent compared with the prior year-end, exceeding US$1.5 trillion for the first time.

Analysts see more bond release from Indian banks investors are becoming more comfortable with Indian paper.

The notes rated Aa2 by Moody's are to be issued to Asian and European-based investors.

The bank’s profit short of $83.3mln as provisions for bad loans surged and staff costs climbed.

Malaysia opens its doors to international banking as it implements liberalisation measures over the period 2009 to 2012.

The lender is choosing among three banks after it had bought one Indonesian bank in 2006.

Lenders open savings account program for students to boost Indonesia’s saving ratio, the lowest among ASEAN countries.