Commentary News | Asian Banking & Finance

Asian banks: Opportunities and challenges for the decade ahead

In the wake of broad global regulatory initiatives including Basel III, the roll-out of Dodd-Frank, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR") and other regulatory guidelines, a variety of issues are currently impacting the Asia-Pacific ("APAC") financial services sector.

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Skills in the spotlight in Asia's finance and banking market

Ask any finance professional to nominate the key challenge the industry faces today, and they'll likely choose complying with tighter legislations and regulations.

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Reward to retain: How to keep banking & finance go-getters from jumping ship

On average, an associate investment banker in Singapore earns SG$86,811 per year, almost double the median gross yearly income of a typical worker who earns around SG$44,500. Yet salaries well above the norm don't seem to be enough to keep banking and finance employees in one place.

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How can Singapore increase the number of home-grown leaders in banking?

With the Singapore banking sector starting to reach maturity, many HR departments are now focusing on attracting and retaining talent, in particular the pressing need to develop more local Singaporean leaders. This demand for more effective leadership has burgeoned in recent years given banking crises, increased regulation, and budget constraints.

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Singapore and US shake hands on FATCA

Singapore is on the brink of concluding an agreement with the US to clamp down on tax evasion by US citizens or residents (US persons), a move that will enhance Singapore’s credentials as a global financial hub.

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How Asia Pacific's treasurers should think about Basel III

As a consequence of the financial turmoil in 2008, Basel III adds new requirements for the composition and quality of capital to financial institutions. In Asia Pacific, the first countries already began transposing Basel III into local regulatory rules in 2013 whereas globally, most countries started implementation in 2014.

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Why banking and finance firms should treat the talent pool as a portfolio

Over a decade ago, factors such as globalisation, deepening of financial product usage, and demographic change led the banking and financial sector on a dynamic trajectory. Essentially, the financial services industry (FSI) built its growth and returns model around these drivers.

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Turning the spotlight on the backstage office

Like any superstar, the front office in financial institutions often hogs the limelight when the firm excels. Nevertheless, everyone knows a good show cannot run without outstanding backstage support.

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Here are Asia's in demand banking and finance jobs right now

Internal Auditors, Regulatory Reporting Analysts, and Financial Planning & Analysis professionals are among the skills in high demand across Asia, according to our latest Hays Quarterly Report of jobs in demand.

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Here's why less is more in Management Information

Banking executives are generally frustrated by the lack of efficient and effective Management Information (MI) that they receive to run their businesses in Asia. Sources of this frustration include MI duplication which often exists across business functions; laborious and error-prone manual production of MI; production of reports that lack focus or insight; gaps in MI such as missing HR and/or sales data; and poor MI storage, governance, and delivery.

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Trade finance woes in emerging Myanmar - Part 2

On the sanctions front, the EU recently lifted all sanctions against Myanmar (the UN does not sanction Myanmar at all), however, the US approach is still complicated. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets and Controls (OFAC) regulations still “does not authorise, in connection with the provision of security services, the exportation of financial services to the Burmese Ministry of Defense, state or non-state armed groups (which includes the military) or entities owned 50% or more by any of the foregoing.”1

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Top takeaways for security in Asian banks

Cybercrime has become a major global issue that is seeing increased sophistication with cybercriminals striving to find new and improved ways to access networks. The result is a sizable financial loss to individuals and organisations with serious damage to brand image and reputation.

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Trade finance woes in emerging Myanmar - Part 1

“Moving forward in unity to a peaceful and prosperous community,” the Myanmar slogan echoed as it chaired the 2014 ASEAN summit. This was the first time Myanmar has chaired ASEAN since joining in 1997 and the latest step in a series of events that Myanmar has taken to join the international community.

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Applause for the MAS's new securities trading rules

Last October’s penny stock crash that wiped out an estimated S$8 billion and rattled Singaporean investors’ confidence prompted the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to develop new guidelines designed to bolster the strength of the local stock market.

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Is the fraud strategy of Asian banks ready for the football fever?

As hordes of travelers descend upon Brazil to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime festivities of the World Cup, many of them will be blissfully unaware that fraudsters are already putting into action new ways to steal their credit card details.

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CNH: Offshore loans set to grow and here's why

Ten years into the internationalisation of the currency, Hong Kong’s yuan loan business has lagged behind other offshore business. Current outstanding yuan loans of Hong Kong banks, for example, total only RMB123 billion, about one-sixth of the RMB704 billion dim sum bond market (including certificates of deposits) (Chart 1).

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