News

They musn't be reading the same newspapers as us, because China Minsheng Bank is planning to issue 15 million credit cards over the next three years.

Maybank hopes to attract its young population to patronise its online deposit service by adopting a green theme for its Yishun branch. Among their efforts: the use of recycled wallpaper."The residents responded very positively which is why Yishun is a suitable Branch to kickstart our 100,000 online deposit account drive. With more than 50 percent of the residents there in the age group of 20-49 years old, we can expect the online accounts to be popular. Bank-wide, we are confident that our iSAVvy suite of deposit accounts will hit the 100,000 mark by end of 2010," said Ms Pollie Sim, Country Head, Maybank Singapore.Maybank was the first Bank in Singapore to launch a suite of online deposit accounts in 2005 and remains the only Bank offering this suite of products which also includes Shariah-compliant online accounts.Maybank Singapore targets to involve over 50 percent of its staff in environmentally-friendly activities by the end of this year.This move will be spearheaded by green ambassadors of the Bank who will undergo energy-saving training programmes and pioneer environmentally-friendly initiatives within the organisation.At least 50 staff members will be appointed green ambassadors.

ANZ Bank Vietnam opened a Transaction Centre in Hanoi and a branch outlet in Ho Chi Minh City. It plans to open a further six new transaction offices over the next month.

No, really. And as well as an indefinite strike, union leaders want more money and a promise not to privatise India's largest bank.

Just days after buying CCB shares from Bank of America, China Life Insurance chief Yang Chao says he would consider selling the shares.

HSBC Limited has completed its acquisition of 88.89 percent of Bank Ekonomi for US$607.5 million. The deal was coursed through its wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Asia Pacific Holdings (UK) Limited.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the long-term ratings of JEM Southbank Pty Limited to A3 from A2. The outlook is stable.

Maybank Islamic is targeting US$566.7 million in deposits from its launch of two new financial products, within one year. The products are Foreign Currency Mudharabah-i or FCM-i, the first such product in Malaysia, and the Profit Now Account-i or PNA-i.

Banco Santander now has a Seoul office to serve as liaison between Korean corporate and official institutions and Grupo Santander’s global network. It will also provide support to Santander clients doing business in Korea.

Maybank recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders of US$512.89 million for the nine months ending 31 March 2009. Its net profit for the same period last year was US$631.9 million.

The credit stress due to economic recession in the Philippine banking system is low relative to other Asian countries, according to Moody's.

Moody's Investors Service has placed the ratings of ten Indonesian banks on review for possible downgrade.

Maybank Singapore doubled its loan portfolio, mostly with new customers, under Spring and IE Singapore Financing Schemes from December 2008. Eighty percent of loan applicants are new to Maybank.The main surge came from Bridging Loans offered under the Local Enterprise Financial Scheme or LEFS.LEFS Bridging Loan constitutes more than 50 percent of the total amount of the loan applications received under the scheme from December 2008 to March 2009. Loans offered under the Loan Insurance Scheme (LIS) grew twice as much in the same period. For the LIS loan portfolio, the facilities, close to 70 percent are for domestic and import purposes and the rest for export market.On average, 65 percent of the customers who applied for the government-backed loans are from the general commerce sector. The remaining 35 percent are mainly from the service, manufacturing and construction-related industries.Mr Lee Hong Khim, Head of Business Banking, Maybank Singapore, said: “In total, we plan to expand our government-backed loans portfolio two-fold by 2010. We expect demand to come mainly from customers involved in general commerce with 80 percent for domestic consumption.”Mr Lee added: “Whilst we want to achieve our target, we hope to work even more closely with IE and Spring Singapore to speed up the process of approvals so that the financial needs of the SMEs are met quickly.”

Moody's warns that credit stress among Malaysian banks could increase if unemployment rises and recession sets in for a protracted period. But since credit stress in the Malaysian banking system has been muted, Moody's noted that its review deposit and debt ratings of nine Malaysian banks is unlikely to lead to more than one notch change.Moody's will review the specific circumstances of Malaysia to determine the appropriate systemic support for Malaysian bank ratings and the implications for the nine banks that have been identified as being potentially affected.Factors that Moody's will consider in its assessment of systemic support include the size of the banking system in relation to government resources, the level of stress in the banking system, the foreign currency obligations of the banking systems relative to the government's own foreign exchange resources, and changes to the government's political patterns and priorities.According to Moody's the Malaysian government has implemented a number of pre-emptive measures to ensure the stability of the Malaysian banking system during the global crisis. This includes the provision of a blanket guarantee until December 2010 to all local and foreign currency deposits with all domestic and locally incorporated foreign banking institutions.Furthermore, Moody's also finds the government to be proactive in supporting the banking system in the current economic downturn by introducing several guarantee schemes to share the credit risk of banks when they extend loans to selective sectors and small- and medium-sized enterprises.The banks whose deposit and debt ratings were placed by Moody's on review for possible downgrade are AmBank (M) Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, CIMB Investment Bank Berhad, EON Bank Berhad, Hong Leong Bank Berhad, HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad, Malayan Banking Berhad, Public Bank Berhad, and RHB Bank Berhad."The review of their debt and deposit ratings will look at the extent to which Malaysia's ability to provide support to its banking system, if needed, is converging with the government's own debt capacity as a result of the ongoing global economic and credit crisis," says Christine Kuo, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.At present the deposit and debt ratings of the nine banks on review receive between one to five notches of systemic support.

Hong Leong Islamic Bank posted a net profit after tax of US$15.473 million, up 15 percent year on year.

Hong Leong Bank Berhad net profit after tax for the nine months ending 31 March 2009 improved by 16 percent year-on-year to US$198 million.