Features
LATEST ARTICLES
-
UOB’s acquisition of Citi’s consumer assets in four southeast Asia markets strengthens its status in one of the world’s fastest growing regions. The Singapore lender’s CEO Wee Ee Cheong talks to Euromoney about why this matters and what comes next.
-
Several Chinese bubble-tea makers are looking at Hong Kong IPOs. When high-end tea maker Nayuki listed three years ago the market drank it up, but the deal now trades 90% below its listing price. Can a new group of issuers revive the market?
-
The Singapore lender is looking to India in search of new business and growth opportunities, its chief executive Piyush Gupta tells Euromoney. Long term, it aims to emulate onshore the country’s best private-sector lenders, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra.
-
Global money is flooding into India to profit from high-performing stocks, a booming economy, and the ease of investing via Gift City, a growing financial hub in Gujarat. Local wealth is flowing the other way, notably to Dubai. It’s a gold mine for private banks, and the process has only just begun.
-
Stock market reform has not only revitalized the country's capital markets but has also permeated the real economy. Countries like Korea are quickly following suit. Interestingly, China also seems to be drawing inspiration.
-
In a world of higher interest rates, economic uncertainties and data overload, corporate treasurers are turning to cutting-edge tools and strategies to predict and optimize their cash flows.
-
AsiamoneyThe German lender’s decision to put its chips on southeast Asia is paying off handsomely. Under the leadership of Asia CEO Alexander von zur Mühlen, Deutsche Bank has doubled its capital in Vietnam and Indonesia, with more to come, moved a host of global roles to the region, and has seen Asean eclipse its India and China business in terms of growth and absolute numbers.
-
It is not hard to find short-term worries over global markets’ state of readiness for the US’s transition to one-day settlement in late May. But even if the UK, Europe and those Asian markets still using two-day settlement can adapt to the shift in the longer term, they will also face intense pressure to lessen their dislocation from the US cycle by copying its move. Many also fear the ultimate end-game of same-day or even instant settlement.
-
AsiamoneyIt has become fashionable to describe private credit as an opaque and fast inflating bubble that could bring crisis to the global financial system. But in Asia even banks and regulators hope it will grow to bridge the yawning financing gap.
-
Many factors explain Japan’s renewed allure to global corporate and financial institutions. Inbound FDI is rising, with local stock prices regularly hitting record highs. Is the economy’s long-awaited renaissance a passing phase or here to stay?
-
With its economy embattled and investors fleeing in droves, getting good data on China has never been more important. There are some great analysts and research shops out there. Trouble is, too many China-facing reports suffer from a lack of imagination, groupthink brought on by a fear of irritating Beijing and an over-reliance on state data. That must change.
-
Hong Kong-based Chinese investment banks, plagued by the market’s liquidity issues, are looking to China's economic pivot and the renminbi's rise as a fundraising currency to restore their fortunes.
-
While the dollar’s international supremacy is unchallenged for now, the wider landscape is shifting. Companies are raising more funding in renminbi and the currency’s use in international payments and settlements is growing.
-
Mongolia’s five big lenders have successfully completed their IPOs, doubling the size of the local stock market. But the challenge of attracting more foreign institutional investment remains.
-
Singapore’s big-three lenders – UOB, DBS and OCBC – have won Euromoney awards for best SME bank in Asia each year since 2016, two of them taking the global award as well. Why?
-
Southeast Asia’s capital markets are buzzing, making them hot favourites with global investors. But be warned: some big obstacles are expected in the months ahead, testing the ability of issuers and investment banks to get deals over the line.
-
Indonesia was recently re-ranked by the World Bank as an upper middle-income country, even though as many as 100 million Indonesians remain unbanked. Andi Taufan Garuda Putra tells Asiamoney how his Amartha microlending platform is bringing them into the financial system.
-
AsiamoneyAfter years of easy Eurobond access and ramped-up Chinese lending, developing economies are now caught between rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions, making debt restructurings more numerous and more complicated. Despite some progress in inter-creditor talks, many debtor nations face an uncertain financial future.
-
AsiamoneyFor decades, transaction banking was a profitable but largely ignored corner of the banking industry. Then Covid happened. Today, bank chiefs see it as critical to everything they do. Given the challenges ahead – collaborating with fintechs and embedding ESG principles in global supply chains – the revolution under way in this business is unstoppable.
-
The abrupt departure of the US NGO fund from military-run Myanmar leaves a vacuum for microfinanciers.
-
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s latest policy splash is the $8.8 billion Maharlika Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth vehicle that aims to boost growth and inward investment. But it has drawn criticism, even within Marcos’s family. Many highlight the cautionary tale of Malaysia’s 1MDB, and fret about the capacity for corruption and poor governance.
-
AsiamoneyOutbound Chinese M&A deal-flow has slowed to a crawl even as inbound activity remains steady. So focus in the region is moving elsewhere: to rising India, steady-and-lucrative Australia and even Japan, where once-bloated conglomerates are streamlining portfolios under intense pressure from activist shareholders.
-
Singapore’s new digital bank Trust has put rivals on notice and pushed some to focus more intensely on innovation. But its long-term success will depend on many things – not least CEO Dwaipayan Sadhu’s ability to retain clients.
-
The Japanese bank is now well placed to take advantage of growing confidence in the country.
-
As relative newcomers to India’s financial markets, small finance banks have made considerable progress in attracting customers with little or no credit history. Ittira Davis, managing director and chief executive of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, tells Asiamoney about initiatives to reach the country’s vast underbanked population.
-
The government’s ambitious plan for full digitalization could reduce crime and increase tax revenue. It could also lead to greater innovation in the banking sector.
-
Greg Krasnov, a banker from war-torn Ukraine, is shaking up finance in the Philippines with the assistance of his digital neobank.
-
Issuance has barely stopped in Indonesia’s IPO market this year. Global investors have bought into the resource-led story with glee – and there are plenty of deals in the pipeline.
-
Indonesia is one of the world’s brighter prospects right now: growth, demographics, infrastructure momentum, inflation under control, more equity raised in the first quarter in Jakarta than New York. Banks are positioning to benefit – while keeping an eye on next year’s elections.
-
AsiamoneyInvestors in Asia are still reeling from the shock write-off of Credit Suisse’s additional tier-1 bonds, threatening future demand for the product from the region’s ultra-wealthy.
-
Pakistan has been trying to improve financial inclusion for the last 20 years with little success. Are new digital licences the answer?
-
Sri Lanka has just navigated a once-in-a-lifetime economic crisis. Sanath Manatunge, chief executive of Commercial Bank of Ceylon, and Jonathan Alles, CEO of HNB, talk to Asiamoney about what challenges remain for the country’s embattled banking sector.
-
Corporate governance challenges and a lack of domestic demand have constrained ESG issuance in India so far. The blowout dual-tranche domestic rupee sovereign green bond in January could be set to change that.
-
Nandalal Weerasinghe has returned from exile to rescue the country’s battered economy. Will he succeed?
-
From the Asian financial meltdown of the late 1990s to the recent pandemic, Thailand central bank governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput’s career has been bookended by crises. Now almost three years into his term as governor, he may well be the right man to keep Thailand safe from another calamity – runaway inflation.
-
The Philippines has the potential to become a regional wealth management hub. The race is on among global and local private banks to attract – and keep - the country’s newly wealthy.
-
The Korean government and the central bank will have their work cut out for them in 2023. They must overcome a loss of trust and criticisms over raising rates too quickly if they want to keep the economy humming and avoid a new crisis.
-
Being stuck between Russia and China has never put more pressure on Mongolia than in the past year. But the authorities and banks are making the best of a near-impossible situation – and succeeding in the process.
-
From 1990s economic superstar to jail and now finally to the top job, Malaysia’s prime minister has had an extraordinary political journey. Now that Anwar Ibrahim is finally the boss, can he fix Malaysia’s many problems?
-
The Kazakhstan central bank’s reliance on an oversimplified toolbox to combat rising inflation could threaten its economy in the longer run. Seeking out alternatives and reassessing monetary policy is now more urgent than ever.
-
TMB Bank boss Piti Tantakasem gamed out everything in his careful pursuit of Thailand’s Thanachart Bank. Then came Covid to help him bed down the deal.
-
Afghanistan’s economy is in a mess. After the Taliban took back control of the country in August 2021, the US froze the central bank’s foreign reserves. Can an unassuming Afghan-American economist secure the release of these funds so that the economy can recover?
-
Vietnam’s latest digital bank Cake is the talk of the town and has attracted more than 1.5 million customers in just over a year. Now, its chief executive wants to challenge banks in southeast Asia.
-
UOB’s penchant for acquisitions to expand its Asean franchise is paying off handsomely in Thailand, where the bank is preparing for an even bigger boom to its business.
-
After more than a decade of working to achieve big things in Malaysia, Hong Leong Bank is increasingly thinking small as it steers its business towards supporting startups.
-
The Malaysian bank has a new CEO in Cambodia who plans to make the most of the lender’s regional scale and savvy to spot opportunities in an overbanked market.
-
What does a new government hold for the Philippine economy and its banks? There are plenty of concerns – mingled with some optimism that the president may help steady the ship.
-
Banks and bond investors are waking up to the difficulty of recovering their money from Indonesian companies that have been hit by the pandemic. Here’s what creditors need to know.
-
It has been a tough decade for AmBank Group as it navigated the aftermath of Malaysia’s 1MBD scandal. But following AmBank’s record legal settlement over its role in this corporate nightmare, the bank is emerging as a new takeover target.
-
Imran Khan’s government was toppled in April, but it didn’t take long for its replacement to make a new deal with the IMF, just as many have done before. How can Pakistan break its IMF addiction?
-
The combination of China’s crackdown on technology companies, its zero-Covid strategy and its domestic property crisis have buffeted Chinese stocks this year. In order for sentiment to stabilize and for the economy to develop, reforms are needed urgently, putting more emphasis on the private sector and less on GDP growth.
-
Faced with a political and economic crisis, Sri Lanka’s top bank chief executives took matters into their own hands to prevent a collapse of the country’s financial system.
-
Within two years, virtual bank WeLab has quickly found its place in Hong Kong. But its chief executive says this is just the beginning of an ambitious plan to expand its foothold in Asia.
-
The outlook for the Chinese real estate sector is bleak, with many more highly indebted companies expected to default on their bonds and loans. If the market is to recover, however, the government will need to ease more restrictions so that firms can access funding again and demand for homes picks up.
-
The nation has navigated the Covid-19 pandemic better than many of its peers, but its luck won’t last unless it brings in some big, meaningful reforms.
-
Cash-starved small businesses and microfinance institutions in Myanmar are increasingly relying on a United Nations initiative to make ends meet. But results are mixed, showing there is still a long way to go to revive the industry.
-
The firm’s wealth management arm positioned itself early for a possible spurt in unicorns in India and the opportunities that may bring. It is now reaping the rewards.
-
The country’s lost decade appears to be assured: the military coup hit the financial system and the economy – and it is scaring away many investors.
-
Fintech firm bKash has revolutionized Bangladesh’s payments industry in the 11 years since it was founded. But its CEO still has more tricks up his sleeve.
-
Fresh from the success of listing Allo Bank in Jakarta, Indonesian billionaire Chairul Tanjung speaks to Asiamoney about his vision for the digital lender, and how to keep an eye out for the next big thing.
-
India is chipping away at the many obstacles on its way to achieving carbon neutrality by 2070. The path is uphill, but will its efforts pay off?
-
AsiamoneyThe Liechtenstein private bank means business. After a slew of strategic hires in Asia, it hopes its focus on intermediaries and access to digital investment opportunities will attract new clients in the region.
-
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has far-reaching consequences for Uzbekistan’s privately owned Hamkorbank. The bank had just pulled through the pandemic when it had to take a hard look at exposure to Russian trade and the rouble.
-
Uzbekistan promises to transform its stock and bond markets in an effort to lure much-needed capital from abroad. Roadshows, tax cuts and easing of restrictions are on the agenda as Tashkent prepares to sell off state assets.
-
Tony Fernandes made his fortune after launching an airline in Malaysia 21 years ago. But as Covid continues to batter AirAsia, he’s hoping to remake his fortune with a new, fintech-based super app – and transform Asean banking much as he did with the aviation industry.
-
India is embracing crypto-currencies and has even floated the idea of a digital rupee. These are natural steps for a country whose digital infrastructure is rapidly evolving, but with the future of the policy environment still unclear, details matter.
-
Zafar Masud survived a plane crash a month after he took over as Bank of Punjab’s chief executive. The experience pushed him to double down on his beliefs – and take this regional Pakistani bank to the next level.
-
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 profligate island’s economy is in meltdown, but authorities appear clueless about how to fix it. The government has consulted the IMF, but a bailout is by no means assured.
-
The merger of Credit Bank with TransBank offers a template for Mongolia’s financial industry, which is ripe for more consolidation and better governance.
-
ABA Bank has helped to transform Cambodia’s banking sector through digitalization and a razor-sharp focus on financial inclusion – efforts that are paying off.
-
Indonesia is spawning new startups by the day, many of which are propelling financial inclusion. Asiamoney speaks to the founders of some thriving platforms that bring together technology and finance to make a difference.
-
To traditional bankers, Jakarta’s gaming salons might seem unlikely places to launch a hot fintech startup. But for veteran gamer Vincent Iswaratioso, battling virtual bad guys in World of Warcraft has proved the perfect training ground for his universal Dana e-wallet.
-
Cambodia’s government, central bank and financial institutions rose to the challenge of mitigating the impact of the pandemic, with some success. There is more work to be done – but a growing focus on innovation and digitalization could herald a new beginning.
-
Alfa Bank has married its SME focus and its digital ambitions to much success in Kazakhstan, but will its business model be enough to ward off the competition?
-
With its razor-sharp focus on SMEs, technology firms and ESG, Busan Bank has come a long way in the last 50 years, and is moving in the right direction.
-
The community of economies going green in a hurry has the unlikeliest of new members: coal-addicted Mongolia. Can the country shed its past?
-
Sprawling conglomerates dominate South Korea’s economy, making it hard to retool a creaking economic model. With a presidential election looming and financial technology firms growing, the market is ripe for disruption.
-
MUFG Bank is investing in its Greater China business, but will its strategy pay off?
-
Predicting the direction of markets has never been harder than during the past two years of pandemic-fuelled worries and volatility. Asiamoney speaks with the top-rated analysts across markets in Asia to see how they navigated 2021 – and how they are positioning themselves and their clients for 2022.
-
Since Kazakhstan left the Soviet Union and embraced capitalism, its banks have been locked in a boom-bust cycle, but a banker who lamented the passing of Communism has emerged as the industry’s leader. Now Halyk Bank’s Umut Shayakhmetova faces what could be her biggest test yet.
-
The chief executive of Malaysia’s HelloGold is on an important mission: to make the global gold market accessible to all.
-
Meezan has rapidly become one of Pakistan’s leading banks, thanks to a couple of early acquisitions.
-
Indonesia’s ambitions of being Asia’s Islamic finance hub have long been hobbled by lack of infrastructure and support. But can a recent change in government attitude spur the industry?
-
Vietnam’s capital markets have perked up in the past year during the pandemic, but they are hamstrung by outdated technological infrastructure at the stock exchange. Is change on the way?
-
In the five years since it was caught up in a money-laundering probe, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation has focused on digitalization and transparency to get on the right track.
-
The future of banks in Afghanistan is uncertain after the Taliban toppled the government in August.
-
Thailand’s oldest bank is betting on its venture capital arm to drive profits and growth in the future. But is that a good strategy?
-
Malaysia’s hopes of political and economic reform proved short-lived. The appointment of a new prime minister means the discredited political party UMNO is back in the driving seat.
-
Asiamoney has selected two senior women who have advanced in Asia’s highly competitive banking industry. Their stories throw light on how the sector is tackling gender diversity.
-
Men are increasingly championing the issue of diversity in banking and helping more women get a seat at the table. But their work is only just beginning.
-
Asiamoney has selected two senior women who have advanced in Asia’s highly competitive banking industry. Their stories throw light on how the sector is tackling gender diversity.
-
Four high-profile businesswomen in Japan are focusing on bringing big changes to the country’s ESG market.
-
Lesbian and bisexual women in banking in Asia struggle to win equal opportunities and defy society’s stereotypes.
-
How are women in the banking industry paving the way for the next crop of female leaders? Asiamoney speaks to a handful of C-suite executives about their career paths and the advice they have for the younger generation.
-
Lenders are focusing on women in mid-career to avoid brain drain and ensure a pipeline of candidates for leadership.
-
For all the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis, it could bring some unexpected benefits for women in the banking industry, encouraging a better work-life balance.
-
The coronavirus pandemic has unearthed a wave of anti-China sentiment across the world, impacting Beijing’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. Will BRI have a future in a post-pandemic world? A veteran banker at HSBC says yes – but the shape it takes will be vastly different.
-
In a novel twist to digital banking, Taiwan’s FEIB is leveraging the wide reach of social media networks to turn clients into bankers and branch managers.
-
Some of China’s largest state-owned companies have become bond market pariahs after a spate of defaults. This may be just what the country’s markets need.
-
The new entrant in Hong Kong’s competitive banking sector is using innovative marketing and customer perks to make a name for itself.
-
Hong Kong must improve its environmental track record and rally the private sector if it is to succeed in its ambition of becoming Asia’s leading centre for green finance.
-
A sudden spike in Covid-19 cases is set to dent growth in Taiwan – and test banks’ ability to do business virtually.
-
China’s crackdown on its biggest technology companies shows the difficulty of balancing growth at all costs at the leading fintech firms with support for state-owned banks.
-
A global competition is under way to define the future of money – and the bet is overwhelmingly on China to get there first.
-
Myanmar’s banking system has been on life support since the coup on February 1, with normal business grinding to a halt. But what’s replaced it feels like a slow-motion bank run that’s chaotic and corrupt.
-
Government officials and bankers see the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to overhaul energy policy and expand the range of financing options available for the country’s infrastructure needs.
-
The country’s government is talking a big game about opening up – but how likely is real change?
-
A much-needed and long-overdue shake-up is starting to pay off, but National Bank of Pakistan’s chief executive is still fighting hard against the old ways of doing business.
-
The new entrants are slowly gaining ground and finding ways to bring change to the financial industry. But their path to growth is handicapped by regulatory roadblocks.
-
India’s plan to set up a bad bank is set to be a game-changer for state lenders pressured by rising non-performing loans. But can the country’s authorities pull it off?
-
Myanmar is once again an investment pariah as the country’s businesses and financial sector reel from the impact of the coup.
-
Commercial Bank of Sri Lanka, the island’s biggest non-government bank, has had a relatively good crisis thanks to strong discipline and leadership.
-
Jeevan Gnanam, scion of a grand Sri Lankan business family, is driving financial sector modernization and helping to revitalise a once-thriving part of the capital.
-
The Bangladeshi investment bank seems closer to a supranational lender in terms of aspirations.
-
During the pandemic, Bangladesh’s Eastern Bank proved that it was in safe hands. The company’s chief executive is now turning his attention back to growth.
-
Cambodia’s stock exchange is working hard to increase its appeal to small and medium-sized enterprises. Could 2021 be the year when those efforts pay off?
-
Prince Bank has achieved a remarkable transition from a microfinance institution into a fully fledged bank in just two years.
-
Home Credit proved to be one of Kazakhstan’s savviest and most agile banks during the pandemic, thanks to the digital transformation that it embarked on less than three years ago. Rivals have some doubts – but the shift to digital appears to be paying off.
-
The investment by Kazakhstan’s banks in their digital offerings had the first big test when Covid-19 struck; firms responded by rapidly rolling out online services to clients. Their transformation is remarkable, but it also raises an important question: where do they go from here?
-
Consolidation of its regional banks could provide a solution for some of the country’s biggest problems. Can the new prime minister pull this off?
-
The lines between business and politics are often blurred in southeast Asia. Just ask the prominent founders of Ikhlas Capital, a private equity firm boasting a network of contacts with the promise of huge opportunities – and occasional trouble.
-
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is one of the most powerful men in Indonesia, leveraging his successes in the military and business to become the president’s key fixer. Will that influence be parleyed into the presidency in 2024?
-
At the first hint of crisis, Mongolia usually reaches out to the IMF for financial help. Not this time. Ulaanbaatar reacted swiftly to the Covid pandemic. It is set to emerge from a tough time with its reputation and its finances enhanced.
-
How should investors navigate Asia’s stock markets in a post-pandemic world? The discovery of vaccines brings hope that we can eventually resume normal life. Asiamoney spoke to the winning strategists in our Brokers Poll to find out what advice they are giving to clients in their own countries.
-
The last 12 months have tested the ability of banks and brokers to offer guidance during times of extreme volatility. HSBC has proved its worth.
-
Kakaobank did not exist four years ago. Now, it is an integral part of Korea’s banking sector. The next big step for the digital dynamo is its $3 billion IPO, slated for late 2021.
-
Lisa Robins is one of the most senior women in banking in Asia, a rare example of a global business head for a multinational bank being based in the region.
-
South Asia is in some ways a better place for women bankers than almost anywhere else in the region. But there are still serious problems.
-
Private banking and wealth management, where it is common for the majority of the workforce to be women, is the only area of banking with anything like equality of representation. But women are often in junior relationship manager positions and thin out at the higher levels of management. Those women who have reached the top explain why their corner of the industry looks different to the rest and what can be done to make it better.
-
It was Chairman Mao who said Chinese women should play an equal role, working in the fields and factories: decades later, women are evident in the upper ranks of the financial sector, but seldom make it to the very top.
-
Sexism, gruelling hours and a drinking culture are among the hurdles that senior female investment bankers in Asia have had to clear. The barriers are starting to come down – but not fast enough.
-
Japan’s banking system is a tough place to work for ambitious women. But Kathy Matsui shows it is possible to rise to the top.
-
Angel Ng has spent more than two decades working at Citi. She has now become a key role model for women in Hong Kong.
-
Banks in Singapore have produced just a handful of women trailblazers in technology and artificial intelligence; can government incentives change the gender balance?
-
In a matriarchal society, it is no surprise that the Philippines has a high proportion of women in finance – but there is still room at the very top for change.
-
Tan Su Shan has worked in some of the biggest banks in the world’s busiest financial centres. Her varied experience has proved crucial in making her voice heard in a male-dominated industry.
-
Carrie Chen learned long ago that she could prosper in her career without trying to beat male bankers at their own game.
-
What do women need to do to reach the top of the banking ladder in Asia, where they hold just 24% of senior jobs? Executives tell Asiamoney how they have risen up the ranks – and why they think dramatic changes are needed to move the needle on diversity .
-
It is 10 years since OCBC bought ING’s Asia private bank and relaunched it as Bank of Singapore. Since then, it has built critical mass, expanded internationally and produced strong results despite lagging on tech. Where does it go next?
-
Singapore has whittled the bidders for its five digital banking licences down from 21 to 14; several are well-funded partnerships with Chinese backers and a track record in disruption. But has Covid-19 moved the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s goalposts?
-
Banks in the country have much more to be optimistic about than their counterparts elsewhere. There are risks on the horizon – but there are also big opportunities.
-
Bank Mandiri’s chairman and chief executive tell Asiamoney how Indonesia and their bank will weather the coronavirus pandemic.
-
Perry Warjiyo, Indonesia’s central bank governor, may not be the country’s leader, but with Covid-19 ravaging the economy, the population of 273 million have more riding on him than on the president.
-
The bank’s regional expansion has been challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic. But its chief executive sounds an optimistic note – seeing opportunity in a moment of volatility.
-
Thai fintech startup Finnomena has launched a digital wealth management platform aimed at the mass market. It’s the sort of innovation that is sorely needed in Thailand. But will it work?
-
Many Filipinos switched to digital channels during lockdown. Bankers think customers are unlikely to return to branches now that they have had a taste of what it is like to go cashless. That would be good for banks – and for financial inclusion.
-
There’s a team made up of staff from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the department of finance who call themselves ‘the Road to A’. They are tasked with completing a long journey for the sovereign credit rating: from BB- as recently as 2009, through BBB+ today, to achieving an A rating.
-
The country’s economy has not been this hard hit since the Asian financial crisis. Political instability, global tensions and weak productivity mean the recovery is going to be slow – and painful.
-
Erick Thohir once owned the Italian football team InterMilan. Now Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo has handed him one of the country’s toughest jobs: reforming creaking state-owned enterprises. If he succeeds, he could even get a shot at the presidency.
-
The country’s banks have made impressive efforts to raise their digital game. But with the economy in trouble, bankers and regulators face some tough choices.
-
It has been a pattern in Indonesia for the best part of 15 years: whenever southeast Asia’s largest economy is engulfed in crisis, it turns to Indonesia's minister of finance – but she has never faced a challenge like this.
-
Creative strategies to avoid the appearance of non-payment are becoming more common in China’s domestic bond market. That leaves many investors at a disadvantage and uncertain of their rights.
-
Local firms have rapidly gone from being a reliable source of liquidity for dollar loans to taking a big step back from lending this year. The worst may be over, but cash is no longer king – caution is.
-
Street protests and a pandemic have forced Hong Kong’s bankers and investors to experiment with how they work and raise funds for clients – their innovations have been surprisingly successful and could well outlast the crises.
-
The bank has put international expansion at the centre of its strategy, and will not be deterred, despite a worsening trade war and the spread of the coronavirus.
-
Chinese issuers responded to Covid-19 by selling bonds that were designed to help fight the pandemic – in reality, only a fraction of the money raised was used to tackle problems created by the virus.
-
Family offices in China have grown from practically nothing 15 years ago to a hyper-competitive industry now. Zhang Yong, a former private banker who set up one of the country’s biggest multi-family offices, shows how the market has developed.
-
Banks in Bangladesh were struggling with poor performance even before coronavirus spread to the country; the pandemic is worsening the impact of a recent policy misstep.
-
Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s leading financial centre is being undermined by politics. Can it survive?
-
Silk Capital is making a big bet on the liberalization of the country’s financial system – a crucial test case of international demand for the nation will be the boutique investment bank’s own offshore IPO.
-
Uzbekistan’s state-owned banks dominate the local financial system; a mix of local, privately owned banks and eager foreign players are helping the country to open up, but it will not be easy.
-
Cash is still king in Myanmar; banks are still trying to figure out what to do with the power of technology.
-
The spectacular collapse of a fast-growing private lender in early March has dealt yet another blow to India’s already shaky finance industry, led to the arrest of its founder and thrown a spotlight on the bank’s aggressive lending practices.
-
The financial industry has been a mess, hit by defaults, rising bad loans, corporate governance scandals, frauds and, most recently, the government rescue of Yes Bank - the worst may be over, but things aren’t tidy yet.
-
President Joko Widodo is planning southeast Asia’s biggest infrastructure project in building his new capital city in remote Kalimantan; it promises to be a party for bankers – but first they will have to negotiate some quirky local characters.
-
AsiamoneyCovid-19 has pushed down global stock markets, led to alarming projections about global growth, and forced millions out of work and most of the rest to work from home. Asiamoney considers the likely impact on banks in the region
-
The country’s banks have worked hard to develop their digital capabilities, but customers are slow to join the revolution.
-
Sean Turnell, adviser to Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, discusses the liberalization, international opening and digitalization of the country’s banking sector.
-
The chief executives of People’s Bank and Bank of Ceylon have both been ousted as part of the government’s new hard line on state-owned banks it considers are not doing enough to help the struggling economy.
-
The payments company has attracted a who’s who of investors – but as competition rises, its founder is now pushing for more, not less, regulatory oversight.
-
The country is now in the grip of another bailout programme and Reza Baqir, the new central bank governor, sees parallels for the nation from his last job at the fund.
-
Korn Chatikavanij, JPMorgan’s former Thailand boss, has been a finance minister, a fintech pioneer and a philanthropist; he is now trying to disrupt politics with a new party.
-
For too long, Mongolia has depended heavily on the resources sector, but banks such as TransBank are making an important push to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises.
-
Even on a busy day, you can hear a pin drop at the Cambodia Securities Exchange, but with a handful of new share listings and more bond issues expected in 2020, investors can hope for a slightly livelier scene.
-
Central Asian expertise and North American money made for a powerful mix: together they have turned ABA Bank into a digital entrepreneur and propelled it to the top tier of Cambodia’s banking industry.
-
New banking rules have blown the competition wide open in South Korea, allowing banks to piggy-back off each other’s client relationships by offering a better mobile app.
-
South Korea’s banks are looking overseas for opportunities and faster profit growth now that their domestic market no longer offers the revenues and excitement it once did.
-
This year’s winners of the Asiamoney Brokers Poll had to navigate myriad challenges, from trade tensions between the US and China to uncertainty around global growth. They managed to find exciting investment opportunities by quickly adapting to the changing market conditions – something they will need to do in 2020 as well.
-
When a bank performs well during a strong year for equity markets, it’s easy to say it is just going with the flow, but when a firm gives clients the best advice during turbulent times, it proves its worth.
-
Kaspi.kz is Kazakhstan’s most exciting technology company, its most ambitious bank and perhaps its next international export, but rivals think they have figured out its secrets.
-
The economy is suffering as months of protests show no sign of abating. Banks have been targeted by demonstrators. So far, its financial markets have been largely unaffected. But surely it is only a matter of time before Asia’s greatest financial centre suffers too?
-
Hong Kong’s Financial Services under-secretary is a rare species: a government official willing to talk to the media, despite holding such a tough job of keeping the SAR’s markets operating smoothly in a time of chaos.
-
The government has big ambitions when it comes to the financial sector, but a second stock exchange, launched as part of a bold plan to turn the country into a Dubai on the Steppes, is a big ask when it comes to developing the nation’s capital markets.
-
Toppling a political dynasty is one thing, stabilizing Malaysia’s corruption-riddled finances is quite another, as finance minister Lim Guan Eng has discovered in his first 18 months in the job.
-
Bailed out by the IMF to the tune of $5.5 billion, the country hopes to break free of the programme in 2020, but flaws in its financial sector mean that going it alone will be risky.
-
AsiamoneyAsiamoney ranks the top five counterparties and top three Asian counterparties in 11 different Asian jurisdictions as part of our 41st annual survey of liquidity consumption in the global FX markets.
-
AsiamoneyAsiamoney has chosen three deals – across equity and debt markets, and M&A – from each of the past three decades since the magazine was launched; some are good, some are bad, but all have had an undeniable impact.
-
As Asiamoney celebrates its 30th anniversary, the progress of Vietnam’s financial markets over the same period can be told through the experiences of one man, Dragon Capital’s Dominic Scriven.
-
Can Indonesia’s likeable president find a way to boost growth, slash red tape, tackle the country’s image problem and draw in much-needed FDI now that he has secured a second five-year term?
-
Is Timo a café or a bank? VinaCapital’s Don Lam reckons his popular Vietnamese neobank can profitably be both – and more. Vietnam’s emergent cashed-up millennials seem to agree.
-
BNP Paribas’ Asia wealth management division was once a digital laggard, but thanks to its ‘design factory’ in Singapore, led by Vivien Jong, it is now a global leader, inventing ways to make the bank work better and more profitably.
-
Its exchange was once buzzing with new listings – these days, the only IPOs that keep equity capital market bankers busy come from Reits. What can the city-state do to convince its best young firms to choose home over Hong Kong or New York?
-
Malaysia’s sixth-biggest bank was once eager to serve the country’s now disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak and his fugitive associate Jho Low. And then it all went wrong, as court cases in Kuala Lumpur reveal.
-
Plans to merge TMB Bank with Thanachart Bank have raised hopes of further consolidation, but it will take a lot more than that to shake up the sector and create champion banks to compete with regional leaders.
-
Pakorn Peetathawatchai, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, is determined to harness digital platforms and launch new products to create a model exchange for the region.
-
Bank of the Philippine Islands is already one of the top corporate and investment banks in the archipelago; now CEO Cezar Consing wants the bank to focus on financial inclusion by expanding its microfinance, SME and consumer lending businesses.
-
AsiamoneyAsiamoney has spent the past two months interviewing the chief executives of the biggest, most important and most disruptive financial institutions in the region. These firms have already made history – next, they will make the future.
-
The Royal Commission cloud burst and NAB got drenched – and eyes are still fixed on this financial institution because the storm is refusing to disperse.
-
As well as investing heavily in digital in-house capabilities, this Taiwanese financial instiution is keeping an eye out for acquisitions – and, in turn, Asia and international banks should keep an eye on it.
-
At the forefront of the trend toward a more environmentally friendly financial system, Development Bank of Japan combines making a profit with a commitment to making an impact for good.
-
The first Chinese bank to sign the Equator Principles, Industrial Bank has led the development of the green financing market.
-
The past decade has not been a happy time for a financial institution once instinctively viewed by many as India’s best-managed private bank; and as for the future… those involved have to keep their nerve.
-
Seizing opportunities and doing the tough things well has made Kotak Mahindra Bank a leading actor in shaping Asia's financial institutions.
-
Most financial institutions are banging the digital drum, but this Philippines bank is worth watching as it takes a more old-fashioned approach to local banking.
-
Haitong's ambition and aggression has helped shape Asia's financial system, and made it a mainstay of Hong Kong's capital markets.
-
SBI is reshaping India's financial system, continuing to act as the bedrock of local banking life while delivering a profit to shareholders.
-
Japan's Mizuho is one to watch in the region as it builds on its domestic strength to move into overseas markets.
-
CTBC has expanded strategically across southeast Asia, but now needs to develop its presence in China to make it a leader in regional banking.
-
The bank's international strategy is on a global scale, but its expansion plan in Asia is the one to watch, as it aims to reshape the region's financial system.
-
In its 20-year history, Bank Mandiri has transformed itself into Indonesia's best government-owned lender ‒ the domestic trailblazer is one to watch in the region.
-
This financial institution was the first in the country to put its money where its mouth was regarding a digital transformation – making it one to watch as it brands itself a disruptor too.
-
Thailand's SCB is certainly one to watch, because if its bold plan works, it will change not just its own business but the local banking system too.
-
Rivals did not pay much attention to CMB up until 2017, but since then its stock has almost doubled, and now all eyes are on this Chinese financial institution.
-
Bangladesh's Grameen Bank pioneered the fields of microfinance and microcredit, earning founder Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize and helping shape the Asian financial system.
-
With its commitment to sustainable finance, Agricultural Bank of China is helping shape Asia's financial system.
-
Bank Central Asia, now one of Asia’s most admired lenders, is certainly one to keep an eye on in Indonesia, as it reaps the benefits of collaborating, not competing, with fintech firms.
-
With 10 million-plus customers and only two years under its belt, this purely digital bank is one to watch in South Korea – and beyond.
-
With its lack of drive and direction, shareholders of the Japanese financial institution look on nervously as the investment bank faces questions about its future.
-
This financial institution is clearly one to watch on a global scale, thanks to its presence in 57 countries and domination of the renminbi clearing market.
-
Of all the financial institutions to watch in Asia, when it comes to digital banking, DBS is the one to focus on, having set the template for banks across the world to follow.
-
This financial institution is one to watch – if you can find its hiding place.
-
Just 35 years in the making, ICBC is the world's largest bank – and is continuing to shape the global financial system to also become the best.
-
Founded before the state of Singapore itself, UOB is looking to the future and enthusiastically embracing technology ‒ all eyes are on its shift to digital and how this will shape the financial system in the region.
-
Nomura hopes a more efficient structure can help it win private banking business and investment banking mandates on the global stage.
-
Slow and steady is winning the race for Malaysia's Maybank ‒ one to watch in regional banking.
-
Created to promote the social development of women alongside its commercial interests, First Women Bank has led the way in financial inclusion.
-
One to watch in China is this transformed financial institution, which claims not only that it knows what its customers want – but how to give it to them, too, in a digital world.
-
This Chinese financial institution should be on everyone's digital radar, not just for being one of the world's largest unicorms, but for also trying 'to make the world flatter' – via tech.
-
With much of CLSA's value tied up in the creative brains who have now left the Hong Kong brokerage, its remaining staff must be nervously watching to see how much of the financial institution's free-wheeling spirit remains – and if it can survive.
-
With one billion customers and beyond, Alibaba’s payments engine is disrupting the financial system in Asia – and it's one to keep an eye on globally too.
-
CICC's international background gives it a major role in shaping Asia's financial system, connecting China with the world.
-
Change is the only constant for Macquarie, helping it through the global financial crisis and beyond, and making it one to watch as it develops new Asian markets.
-
Chaos and upheaval in Nepal have given way to growth and stability, and investors have taken note. Capital is flowing in from India and China, while the government pushes ahead with securing its inaugural credit rating, but can the good times last?
-
In 30 years, China has gone from a backward command economy to a global superpower, but what will the next 30 hold? Asiamoney picks 10 factors to watch, from the renminbi to bonds to wealth management, as we move towards the mid-century.
-
Nepal’s government wants everyone to have access to a bank and has ordered a branch in each of the country’s 753 districts. Asiamoney journeys to one of the poorest and most remote parts of Asia, high in the Himalayas, to see if its grand financial-inclusion plan is working.
-
Over the last 30 years, Taiwan has become very wealthy – is that in spite of, or because of, the pariah island’s tightly restricted financial system? New finance minister, Su Jain-rong, gives Asiamoney his views.
-
-
As part of Asiamoney’s 30th anniversary coverage, we have selected six key individuals who have contributed more than most to the development of banking and capital markets in China. Their stories illustrate three decades of extraordinary growth.
-
-
AsiamoneyAsiamoney has recognized the most impressive companies across Asia-Pacific for the last three decades, publishing the Best Managed Companies Awards, the Corporate Governance Poll and Asia’s Outstanding Companies Poll. For our anniversary edition, we have tallied the results to identify the best corporations in the region over the last 30 years.
-
Hong Kong’s belated embrace of diversity has meant a dozen of its banks are now run by women, but there’s clearly more work to be done.
-
AsiamoneyAsia Pacific used to be an afterthought for global banks, but thanks to China, it is now one of the world’s most important financial regions. Where once bond and loan bankers might do 20 deals a year, now that’s a week’s work. And billion-dollar IPOs are a regular occurrence. What can we learn from a look through the historic league tables?