Staff Reporter
Big borrower default could wipe out a year of SEA bank earnings: S&P
Brunei, the Philippines, and Thailand are the most exposed to loan concertation risk.
Half of APAC banks hit KYC backlog as manual systems fail
In Singapore, nine institutions were fined a combined $21m for anti-money laundering failures.
Standard Chartered launches SC Shop and Earn cashback on SC Mobile
Priorty Private and Priorty Banking clients can earn up to 6.9% cashback on Agoda and Expedia.
SMBC to launch new startup video pitch platform as deal flow source
GoAhead invests in seed and early stage startups.
Indian bank credit jumps 14.4% in December as gold loans double
Power segment and ports drive infrastructure credit growth.
Singaporeans’ travel spend shift to Asia for snow and healthcare
They’re traveling to Thailand and South Korea for medical services.
BNI braces for NIM compression in 2026 on tighter H1 liquidity
NIM is estimated to fall between 3.5% to 3.8%, lower than Q4 2025’s 3.9%.
UOB set for growth as DBS, OCBC earnings hold steady: report
The sector benefited from dividend potential and provision write-backs.
Indonesia loan demand stagnates as MSME and consumption slumps
Underlying demand for loans remains uneven although liquidity will be abundant, analyst said.
Digital payments clock 13% growth as physical cards retreat
Super-apps reduce dependency on traditional products by bundling diverse financial tools.
MUFG’s profit up 3.7% to $11.5b in 9M 2025 as operating profit nearly triples
Net operating profit and net income have reached over 80% of full-year targets.
MUFG launches Artemis Ventures with $318.9m equity fund target
It will invest in mid-to-late stage startups, primarily those based in Japan.
ANZ rolls out agentic AI CRM tool that will save bankers 1 month of time
The new CRM consolidates data from 20 different platforms.
Citi hires Kriss Pachauri to lead ANZ global asset manager coverage
Citi says it has a “strong pipeline” in the financial sponsors segment.
India's public banks must cut branches to hit 'world-leading' goal: S&P
Indian PSBs are inefficient due to underutilised and low-yielding branches, an analyst said.
Only 1 in 10 banks see AI returns despite $97b spend by 2027
Data fragmentation and governance uncertainty plague most AI adoptions.
Commentary
Buy now, worry later: The hidden cost of BNPL
Why most banks are struggling with AI, and what the smart ones are doing differently
Data, AI, and trust: The next era of financial crime prevention
From behavioural change to scalable inclusion: Cross-border payments in APAC
Device governance is not an IT problem. For SEA's financial sector, it is a boardroom one
Corporate acupuncture: How precision M&A is reshaping Asia’s competitive edge