Asia-Pacific
Banking and finance news from China, Japan, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific
Singapore’s UOB and AWS signed exploratory ASEAN cloud technology agreement
UOB and Amazon Web Services signed an exploratory agreement to assess a dedicated Singapore cloud environment supporting the bank’s hybrid infrastructure across five ASEAN markets.
Pakistan's financial inclusion index increased 1.4 points to 59.5 in 2025
Pakistan's financial inclusion index increased to 59.5 in 2025 from 58.1 a year earlier, as the central bank cited stronger service usage, digital banks and Raast merchant adoption.
MUFG appointed Kenjiro Horikawa to lead its Philippine banking operations
MUFG appointed veteran banker Kenjiro Horikawa as managing director and Philippines country head from 1 October, placing him over the group's Manila operations after its universal banking approval.
Vietnam capped AI-automated bank payments under new sector risk-management rules
Vietnam's central bank capped AI-executed daily payments at VND100 million for individuals and VND500 million for organisations under banking rules effective 15 November, with existing systems due to comply by March 2027.
Malaysia's 1MDB and Deutsche Bank moved towards proposed US$1.1 billion settlement
Counsel said Malaysia's High Court had been informed of a proposed settlement process for 1MDB's US$1.1 billion Deutsche Bank lawsuit, with a hearing remaining on 26 October.
India's RBI tightened rupee derivatives rules and opened oil dollar window
India's RBI opened a special dollar window for three state oil companies and tightened foreign-exchange derivatives rules, helping the rupee rise nearly 1% on Monday.
RBI tightens daily reserve maintenance and schedules ₹25,000 crore bond sale
India’s central bank raised banks’ minimum daily reserve maintenance threshold to 99% and scheduled a ₹25,000 crore bond sale as it moves to drain surplus liquidity.
VPBank completed stock dividend and lifted Vietnam charter capital to VND100 trillion
VPBank completed a 2.067 billion-share stock dividend, increasing outstanding shares to 10 billion and lifting charter capital from VND79.339 trillion to VND100 trillion in the first phase of its 2026 capital plan.
OCBC launched tokenised deposit treasury service across Singapore and Malaysia
OCBC and Ant International launched a 24/7 tokenised-deposit treasury service supporting Singapore-dollar and US-dollar transfers between Singapore and Malaysia through Ant's WhaleRTP platform for corporate treasurers.
Singapore’s DBS, OCBC and UOB fell sharply as rate fears spread
Shares in Singapore’s three largest banks fell between 4.3% and 5.2% as investors reassessed funding costs, trading-book risks and rich valuations after a record rally.
Pakistan's Formal Retail Payments Rose 58% to 14.3 Billion in FY26
Pakistan's formal retail payment volume increased 58% to 14.3 billion transactions in FY26, with digital channels handling 13.2 billion and lifting their share above 92%.
CrowdStrike Linked ARTEX Evidence to South Korean Financial Sector Attacks
CrowdStrike found ARTEX configuration files, Claude Code histories and attacker-controlled infrastructure in the South Korean campaign, assessing with moderate confidence that the unknown actor was Chinese-speaking and financially motivated.