Asia Pacific

The launch of new digital banks backed by Standard Chartered, FairPrice, Grab and Singtel comes at an interesting time. Both emerge into a very different world than the one in which they applied for licences. Success will rest upon exploiting the ecosystems of their founders.

The strength of the Australian economy is not enough to convince analysts it is a good time to increase AUD exposure.

There is reason for optimism in Thailand’s recovery from Covid. But comments from the country’s central bank governor and finance minister underscore one of the central challenges for officials in countries like this: that so much is out of their hands.

HSBC’s interim result shows that banks are drawing a line under pandemic-related provisions, while simultaneously setting aside new ones for the disease’s economic cure. All banks must make this transition, but HSBC has other things to worry about besides: a campaign from China’s Ping An to split the bank in half.

Laos faces bankruptcy, but like another crisis-ridden Asian state, Sri Lanka, its future is not in its own hands. That role is played by China, whose aggressive lending has helped to take one country to the brink of default and the other well past it.

The merger, if it gets through the competition regulators, underlines the fact that nothing matters more in Australian banking than mortgages.

China’s support for Russia is part of its strategy to reduce the world’s dependence on the greenback – might it work?

At first glance, Temasek’s long-standing ardour for China seems to be fading. Its mainland holdings have had a shocker of a year, but the Singapore fund is buying.

Xi Jinping wants a smooth path to his re-appointment as president in November. But his zero-Covid policy, slowing growth and bank runs in central China mean that path is looking increasingly bumpy.

The top ranks of Philippine finance are shuffling after the election of Bongbong Marcos as president. Felipe Medalla takes the reins at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, where he faces a challenge in fostering economic recovery while keeping inflation from getting out of hand.

BRI’s digital banking unit is using a vast agent ecosystem to distribute its products to Indonesia’s gig economy.

A record-breaking syndicated financing for one of Vietnam’s most interesting banks tells us much about investor sentiment towards the borrower and the country.

The blockchain-based cross-border payments platform will operate across 15 countries.

By hiring two private bankers from outside the industry to power its Asia family-office business, Citi offers further proof that its peers should take its ambitious regional wealth management plans seriously.

Hong Kong’s capital markets are moribund, its government erratic and directionless, and its economy in disarray. For a city that increasingly looks like anything but Asia’s ‘world city’ is there a route back to normality?

Markets are trading interest-rate expectations over actual rate decisions – proving the power of market sentiment.

The Duterte presidency had many problems, but it gave the Philippine central bank and finance ministry room to enact significant change in tax, digital reach, infrastructure and fiscal policy. OF Bank will be among its legacies.

Lombard Odier joins Barclays and Nomura in hoping to grow partnerships and shareholdings in a market that is heavily banked but underpinned by a vast institutional bid and a belated surge towards sustainability.

With the US Federal Reserve apparently keen to step up the pace of interest-rate rises over the coming months, it is not just emerging market currencies that are expected to suffer.

Almost half of the Australian group’s record profit came from the Americas this year. Will Macquarie still call Australia home?

This one is welcome in Australian banking.

DBS’s purchase of Citi’s local consumer business in January was a timely reminder of Taiwan’s allure. Yes, the island lies on a geopolitical fault line and the banking sector is crowded. But it’s also profitable and now welcomes digital disruption.

The attack follows the introduction of new foreign currency rules.

With civil unrest, the resignation of half the cabinet and a standstill on sovereign debt repayment, Sri Lanka’s new finance minister, secretary to the treasury and governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka have a lot to do.

As the economy lands with a thud, there’s a dearth of talent in Colombo’s official ranks. Pragmatic diplomacy might now be a better option for the embattled Rajapaksa clan.

The IPO of Indonesia’s GoTo is a big moment not just for the issuer but for the exchange that changed the rules to accommodate it and for the entirely domestic joint lead manager group.

The UK bank’s new fund aims to deliver metaverse-themed investment opportunities to wealthy clients in Hong Kong and Singapore.

A Singapore-based investment vehicle fronted by former Commonwealth Bank of Australia CFO Rob Jesudason aims to invest in financial disruptors that will complement the industry without reinventing it.

Shinhan’s landmark anniversary comes as its chairman tries to navigate an unpredictable global environment, the threat of big technology in Korea and the opportunities of expansion in Vietnam.

South Korea’s KakaoBank is unusual among Asian pure-play digital banks, in that it is not only growing fast but is also profitable. Having harvested the low-hanging fruit of wallet balances, it is now building higher-fee products. And last year’s listing showed just how much belief there is in the story.