Frances Gagua
Merger of Philippine banks Landbank, UCPB to take effect on March
Merger of Philippine banks Landbank, UCPB to take effect on March
All accounts under UCPB will be transferred under Landbank.
South Korea completes first phase of digital currency feasibility test
The second phase of the test will be carried out until 22 June.
Indonesia prohibits financial institutions from trading crypto
OJK clarified that supervision of crypto is under Babbepti and the Ministry of Trade.
Chart of the Week: Vietnam’s card payments market to grow 24.1% in 2022
Strong anti-COVID measures allowed the market to reduce the pandemic’s impact.
Recent rate cuts to shave off $7.2b from Chinese banks’ net interest income
The impact on mortgage loans will not be felt until January 2023.
Bad loans of Philippine alternative lenders to decrease in 2022: study
The rate of their bad loans has hovered around 10% to 10.5%.
ING appoints ex-Westpac senior director as head of real estate finance in Australia
Darren Beatty has worked for the institutional banking teams of Westpac and CBA.
Talent crunch threatens Hong Kong’s financial sector as expats flee: report
Inconveniences in overseas travelling may reportedly turn away much-needed talent.
Weekly Global News Wrap: US banks closed 2,000+ branches in 2021; Morgan Stanley CEO pay raised to $35m
And Citi, BNP Paribas eye 7 February return-to-office date.
Indonesia’s big four banks’ asset qualities remain under pressure in 2022
The banks’ credit costs are sighted to remain elevated.
Payments platform Yeahka is China’s top non-bank QR payment service
Transaction size reached $156.24b in 2021.
South Korea mulls easing restrictions on investing in fintech: report
The country’s top regulator shared plans to enact a new law on the matter.
Chart of the Week: Indonesia’s card payments market to grow 10.7% in 2022
Growth will be driven by the rise of debit card use.
Mizuho submits business improvement plan following tech failures
Mizuho most recently saw disruptions to its corporate online bank services on 11 January.
How Singapore FIs can address the tech and cyber security risks associated with public cloud adoption
The cloud is increasingly becoming the primary location for financial institutions to store and process data: most financial institutions have moved their applications to cloud platforms, and many of those that still have their data on-premise today are planning their imminent migration to cloud.
Union Bank’s capital buffers to weaken following Citi purchase: analyst
Any potential earnings boost remain uncertain; whilst reduced capital will take years to rebuild.
Standard Chartered appoints Roel Louwhoff as chief of tech, operations, and transformation
He replaces current COO David Whiteing, who is moving back to Australia.
Commentary
Asia’s banks hold the mandate to innovate. Now they must earn it.
Why Asia's banks are rebuilding their credit infrastructure in 2026
Banks retreat, private credit advances: Asia Pacific’s quiet lending revolution
Human Sparsity Blockchain: A citizen-validated ledger for digital finance supervision
Will stablecoins disrupt the banking business?
Digital transformation starts with leadership