Asia-Pacific
Banking and finance news from China, Japan, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific
Mizuho faces $100 million trade-finance exposure after Glencore disputes invoices
Mizuho Bank provided approximately $100 million of credit to Singapore commodity trader Radiant World against invoices that Glencore subsequently said it did not recognise.
RBI moves to drain $10.5 billion from banking system as liquidity surplus surges
The Reserve Bank of India will conduct open-market sales of government securities as it seeks to bring banking-system liquidity back towards levels consistent with its monetary policy stance.
DBS, OCBC and UOB complete Singapore's first live SGD tokenised deposit transactions on Swift's ledger
Singapore's three local banks completed the country's first live domestic interbank Singapore dollar transactions using tokenised deposits on Swift's blockchain-based ledger on 10 September, with obligations netted before settlement through existing systems.
India backs linking BRICS central bank digital currencies ahead of New Delhi summit
India will press BRICS members to link their central bank digital currencies for cross-border settlement at the 12–13 September summit in New Delhi, while declining to back a unified bloc-wide payments network.
China's banks shift into government bonds as mortgage and consumer lending contracts
Claims on the government reached 16.4 per cent of Chinese banks' total assets in July, up from 11.5 per cent five years earlier, as mortgage and consumer lending demand continued to weaken.
DBS rejects S$1.298 billion damages claim filed by liquidators of four 1MDB-linked companies
Singapore's largest lender said on 9 September that four companies in liquidation and their liquidators had filed a claim estimated at S$1.298 billion, which the bank categorically rejected and booked no provision against.
Ant International, Visa and Mastercard begin know-your-agent payments collaboration in Singapore on Thursday
Ant International, Mastercard and Visa said on Thursday they had begun developing an interoperable Know-Your-Agent framework for AI agents projected to orchestrate US$3 trillion to US$5 trillion of global consumer commerce by 2030.
UBS confirms closure of Shenzhen fund sales unit in China from end-September
UBS confirmed on Thursday that UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen), which runs the WE.UBS digital wealth platform launched in 2022, will cease fund subscription and switching services at the end of September.
Bank of Thailand joins 11 financial associations to block illicit money flows
The Bank of Thailand on 10 September launched a sector-wide framework with 11 financial associations covering banks, non-bank lenders, payment operators and money changers, targeting proceeds from scams, gambling and corruption.
Bank of Japan board member Masu signals further rate hikes ahead of September meeting
Bank of Japan policy board member Kazuyuki Masu said on Thursday the central bank will keep raising its policy rate, currently 1%, warning rapid tightening may become unavoidable if inflation accelerates.
RBI clears ICICI Prudential AMC to acquire up to 9.95% in AU Small Finance Bank
The Reserve Bank of India approved ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company to build an aggregate holding of up to 9.95% of AU Small Finance Bank's paid-up capital or voting rights, AU disclosed on Wednesday.
Ping An Digital Bank launches purchase order financing for export e-commerce merchants
Ping An Digital Bank (International) launched a purchase order financing product on 4 September offering cross-border e-commerce merchants up to 95 per cent of eligible receivables, capped at $5 million, without collateral.