In Focus

Charoen makes a play for Asian bancassurance market

Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi moves to take over ING's insurance units in Asia.

HSBC to sell its $9.3b stake in Ping An Insurance

Ping An to be divested despite its profitability.

China to tackle renminbi convertibility

Deregulation also necessary to carry out financial reforms.

Thai banks urged to tone down advertisements

Unduly influencing the public to borrow.

Bad loans threaten China’s recovery

A tsunami of bad loans could sink many Chinese banks.

Big Four have a bad year

The Big Four could see profitability plunge to 5%.

StanChart set for another good year

Operating profit grew less than 10%, however.

Hong Kong banks to suffer from profit decline post QE3

Banks will struggle to write new mortgages to offset an annual repayment rate of ~15%.