Singapore

Morgan Stanley’s wholesale banking license allows it to expand its lucrative wealth management business and boost lending.

It increased to 90% in 2011 compared to 82% in 2010.

Central banks in the ASEAN will set up an ASEAN bank system.

Although asset management is considered the most consistently profitable business in financial services, there has been extreme volatility in the degree to which individual firms capture profits.

The internationalisation of RMB is providing banks with opportunities to enhance their cash management structures in the face of a USD liquidity shortage - but does a shortage really exist till now?

The Singapore unit of CIMB Bank is poised to expand its Islamic banking operations in a big way.

With the outlook of slow growth in the coming years, banks across Asia need to aim for significant structural changes to their cost base. This can be a challenge, however there are lessons from the experiences of other industries such as the European postal industry for example.

We already know the huge impact, if not burden, the proposed FATCA regulations brings to Asian banks - but what else do we need to know about the new regulation? KPMG, Deloitte and PwC give their insights.

The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd has developed an application or app that makes it easier for customers to navigate complex loan requirements.

The banking community of the Asia Pacific region continues to impress with its commitment to the branch.

HSBC Singapore is 60% on the way to achieving its profit target of US$1 billion by 2016.

As clients look for enhanced services, banks will have to strive for better cash and trade product sets - find out what HSBC’s John Laurens, Citi’s Ravi Saxena, and DBS’ Ken Stratton have to say.

Floating exchange rate regimes in Asia Pacific countries give governments flexibility to provide liquidity support to the banks, but not in Hong Kong.

Asian banks will have to brace for financial concerns, operational burden, and data privacy dilemmas brought about by FATCA - but these are not the only challenges.

Increased pricing pressure, cost complexities, and western regulatory initiatives may have custodians worried.

The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd, Singapore’s largest local bank by market capitalisation, has reported encouraging operating results for 2011.