Asia-Pacific
Banking and finance news from China, Japan, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific
DBS appointed Gautam Banerjee to group and bank boards in Singapore
DBS appointed Blackstone Singapore chairman Gautam Banerjee to the boards of DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank, adding governance and professional-services experience from 1 October.
Third-party risk reset: regulators trade vendor checklists for concentration oversight
US agencies propose scrapping prescriptive vendor guidance as the EBA will repeal its 2019 outsourcing guidelines once applicable; with 19 EU and four UK critical tech providers under direct oversight, supervisors now target concentration as well as contract clauses.
Japan’s SMFG approved share exchange for SMBC Nikko holding structure
SMFG approved a statutory share exchange that will place SMBC Nikko under a new intermediate holding company from 1 October, supporting governance of its Japanese equities businesses.
Bradesco completed first pilot transaction on Bank of America’s cross-border real-time payments service
Bradesco completed a first pilot transaction that delivered a cross-border payment through Swift connectivity into Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System, with access through CashPro planned from 2027.
China cut targeted lending rate and introduced first-home mortgage subsidy
China cut its one-year pledged supplementary lending rate by 25 basis points to 1.5% and introduced a one-percentage-point mortgage subsidy for eligible first-home buyers nationwide.
Apple Pay launched in India with Axis Bank as first issuer
Apple Pay launched in India with Axis Bank, initially supporting the lender’s Visa and Mastercard credit cards while excluding RuPay cards from the first phase of the contactless-payment rollout.
MAS Allocated S$1.45 Billion to Five Equity Managers in Singapore
Singapore's central bank allocated S$1.45 billion to five asset managers and committed another S$20 million for market-making support as total programme placements reached S$5.4 billion.
India’s Supreme Court refused interim stay on UPI merchant fee
India’s Supreme Court refused to pause the 0.4% UPI merchant fee for specified payments above ₹2,000, while seeking affidavits from the Centre, RBI and NPCI within four weeks.
Australia’s central bank raised cash rate to 15-year high of 4.60%
Australia’s central bank lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.60%, the fourth increase in 2026, as higher energy costs and domestic capacity pressures kept inflation risks elevated.
IAG agreed confidential resolution of A$2.8 billion Credit Suisse claim
Insurance Australia Group agreed to settle Credit Suisse proceedings over Greensill-linked insurance policies, in which the claimed amounts had an aggregate face value of about A$2.8 billion plus interest, under confidential terms.
Rebecca Williams joins New Zealand central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee
New Zealand appointed Rebecca Williams to a one-year term on the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee from 15 October, filling an internal seat vacant since March 2025.
New Zealand orders independent review of TSB capital and liquidity reporting
New Zealand’s central bank required TSB to commission an independent prudential review, which Deloitte will carry out, after the lender identified errors affecting its capital and liquidity ratio calculations and regulatory reporting.