S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of banking news stories and more published throughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links to third-party sources that require a subscription.
Australian bank earnings
* Commonwealth Bank of Australia's cash net profit after tax from continuing operations for the six months ended December 2021 came in at A$4.75 billion, up 23% year over year from A$3.87 billion. It also declared a fully franked interim dividend of A$1.75 per share.
* National Australia Bank Ltd.'s cash earnings grew 9.1% year over year to A$1.80 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021.
* Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said its group net interest margin was down 8 basis points for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021. The lender is also considering increasing the size of its current on-market buyback.
* Macquarie Group Ltd. reported a group capital surplus of A$11.5 billion, with Group Managing Director and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake saying improved overall market conditions contributed to the record-breaking third fiscal quarter, driven by its commodities and global markets and Macquarie Capital businesses.
* ASX Ltd. reported a net profit after tax rose 3.5% year over year to A$250.3 million from A$241.8 million for the six months ended December 2021, driven by a 6.6% revenue growth.
More earnings news
* State Bank of India posted a consolidated net profit of 96.92 billion rupees for the fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021, up 51.4% from 64.02 billion rupees in the prior-year period. Meanwhile, Union Bank of India reported a consolidated net profit of 10.77 billion rupees in the same three-month period, a 49.76% year-over-year jump from 7.19 billion rupees.
* Shinhan Financial Group Co. Ltd.'s consolidated net income attributable to controlling interest for the fiscal fourth quarter ended December 2021, slipped 0.99% year over year to 459.81 billion won from 464.39 billion won. Meanwhile, Woori Financial Group Inc.'s consolidated profit to equity holders jumped 97.97% to 2.588 trillion won in 2021 from 1.307 trillion won in the previous fiscal year.
* The Chiba Bank Ltd.'s profit attributable to owners of the parent in the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2021, came to ¥45.37 billion from ¥40.52 billion in the prior-year period. EPS grew to ¥61.01 from ¥54.45. Meanwhile, Fukuoka Financial Group Inc. reported a fiscal nine-month net income attributable to owners of ¥44.18 billion, up from ¥35.75 billion in the prior-year period.
* Mebuki Financial Group Inc. reported a consolidated net income attributable to owners of the parent in the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2021, of ¥38.46 billion from ¥29.50 billion in the prior-year period. EPS increased to ¥34.66 from ¥25.42.
M&A corner
* Ares Management Corp. completed its acquisition of AMP Ltd.'s infrastructure debt platform. Meanwhile, Razorpay Software Pvt. Ltd. acquired a majority stake in Malaysia-based Curlec Sdn. Bhd. for an undisclosed amount.
* Melbourne-based Timelio Pty. Ltd. agreed to acquire the invoice finance business of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.
* Fidea Holdings Co. Ltd. and The Tohoku Bank Ltd. annulled their basic agreement on business integration reached in July 2021.
* China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved Bank of Guiyang Co. Ltd.'s takeover of assets in a rural lender held by troubled Baoshang Bank Co. Ltd.
* Cerberus Capital Management LP is leading the race to acquire a majority stake in Yes Bank Ltd.'s planned asset reconstruction company, Mint reported, citing two people directly aware of the development.
* Australia's MoneyMe Ltd.'s shareholders approved, with a 99.99% majority vote, the company's proposed acquisition of SocietyOne Australia Pty. Ltd. Meanwhile, United Bank Ltd. obtained in-principle approval from Pakistan's central bank to conduct due diligence for its acquisition of a 55% stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank Ltd.
* Keybridge Capital Ltd. is planning to make an off-market takeover bid for all currently issued fully paid ordinary shares in WAM Active Ltd., subject to shareholders' approval.
* Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said its Mizuho Bank Ltd. unit agreed to buy an approximately 10% stake in Singapore-incorporated Tonik Financial Pte. Ltd., which operates Tonik Digital Bank Inc. in the Philippines.
* The Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office, an investment company managing the wealth of Nintendo's founding family, purchased a majority stake in U.S.-based Taiyo Pacific Partners LP, Nikkei Asia reported, without citing any sources.
* India's government plans to launch an expression of interest for the sale of its stake in IDBI Bank Ltd. by March-end, The Indian Express reported, citing Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.
* Apollo Global Management Inc. will invest 9.4 billion rupees into India's Hero FinCorp Ltd. for a stake of around 9% to 11% in the nonbanking financial company, The Economic Times reported, citing people aware of the development.
Regulatory updates
* China is seeking to further standardize and improve the financial sector by 2025, including pushing its development of a legal digital currency infrastructure toward widespread acceptance. Meanwhile, the Hangzhou branch of the People's Bank of China fined MYBank 22.37 million yuan for multiple violations including breaches to credit scoring management and anti-money laundering rules, Caixin reported.
* The Monetary Authority of Singapore increased the capital requirement of DBS Bank Ltd. by roughly S$930 million as retribution for the widespread unavailability of the lender's digital banking services in November 2021. The central bank also issued five white papers for guidelines on the responsible use of artificial intelligence by financial institutions.
* The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas granted Philippine Bank of Communications a universal banking license, subject to regulatory requirements.
* The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission ordered sanctions against NRB Bank Ltd.'s CFO Kamrul Hasan over unauthorized share transactions, resulting in financial losses for the lender, The Financial Express reported.
* The State Bank of Pakistan fined five banks 57.8 million rupees in total for regulatory breaches in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan canceled Saudi Pak Leasing Co. Ltd.'s license due to noncompliance with mandatory requirements.
In other news
* JB Financial Group Co. Ltd. seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its offices and those of its affiliates by 67% from the current level by 2030, The Korea Times reported. It also plans to work with corporate customers to reduce their carbon emissions by 30% by 2025.
* The president of Thailand's Government Savings Bank said the lender is planning to set up a nonbank unit to provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises based on land collateral, Bangkok Post reported.
* The Bank of Japan said the average amount of loans at major and regional banks for the month rose 0.6% year over year to about ¥504.782 trillion, while those of regional banks grew 1.9% to ¥273.364 trillion.
* Hero FinCorp Ltd. raised 20 billion Indian rupees in growth capital from U.S.-based Apollo Global Management Inc. and Hero MotoCorp Ltd., among others, Mint reported.
Fea
Japanese megabanks see bad loan ratios rising as pandemic lingers
Australia's biggest bank need not worry about margin drop as growth stays intact
Asia-Pacific financial M&A deals set for strong 2022 amid low rates, reopening
Green bond supply to grow in 2022 as polluting sectors step up climate efforts