TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
* Japan-based Rakuten Bank Ltd. will enter the reverse mortgage market in collaboration with real estate brokerage HouseDo starting Jan. 5, The Nikkei reported. The online bank set the borrowing limit to between ￥1 million and ￥100 million.
* KakaoPay, the digital payment service unit of South Korean internet platform Kakao, has filed an application to launch an online nonlife insurance service, the Chosun Ilbo reported. The company is aiming to introduce the service in the second half of the year.
➤ Japan's latest push for workforce diversity challenges megabank culture
Five years after Japan released its first corporate governance code that aimed at pushing for more female managers and board members, the representation of women in managerial positions in corporate Japan is still among the lowest for an advanced economy.
➤ Bank failures likely to remain rare in 2021 even with worsening credit
A substantial increase in bank failures looks improbable over the next 12 months thanks to the industry's focus on building liquidity and the renewal of a COVID-19 stimulus package that gave banks breathing room to offer forbearance.
BANKING
* China-based Industrial Bank Co. Ltd. is likely to name its president, Tao Yiping, as chairman, Caixin reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Tao has been acting head of the lender's board since September 2019.
* The board of Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank Ltd. decided to name its independent nonexecutive director Irene Lee as chairman, the first woman to hold the position, succeeding Raymond Ch'ien, who will step down in the second quarter of 2021.
* Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd. said Guo Xinshuang stepped down as its president and executive director, effective Jan. 4. The bank's vice president Zhang Xuewen will assume the role until a new president is appointed.
* The deposit balance at Japan-based Rakuten Bank reached ￥5 trillion by end-December 2020, the company said in a release. The number of accounts hit 9 million for the first time as an online bank in June 2020.
* The former vice chairman of South Korea's Woori Bank, Shin Myung-hyuk, was appointed CEO of Aju Savings Bank, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing industry insiders.
* Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya PCL temporarily closed 10 branches on Jan. 4 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, Krungthep Turakij reported.
* Siam Commercial Bank PCL announced that all its branches in shopping malls across Thailand will close early at 6 p.m. until further notice due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Krungthep Turakij reported.
* Indonesian lender PT Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk approved a rights issue of up to 5 billion B series shares, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
* India-based YES Bank Ltd. said in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2020, its deposits grew 7.7% to 1.462 trillion rupees, while its loan advances grew 1.3% to 1.691 trillion rupees quarter over quarter. Its gross retail disbursements grew 100.9% to 75.63 billion rupees.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
* In China, JPMorgan Chase & Co. hired 19 analysts since the launch of its securities venture in March, Nomura Holdings Inc. hired eight and Credit Suisse Group AG brought on board 11 analysts in September, Bloomberg News reported, citing data from the Securities Association of China. The number of registered analysts in the country rose 8% to 3,475 in 2020.
* Concerns are growing, however, that the difficulties of KakaoPay's second-largest shareholder Alipay with Beijing's intensified crackdown on the company could have a negative impact on KakaoPay's business as well as its planned IPO, The Korea Times reported.
* India's Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd. said that its disbursements in the individual loan category grew 26% in the three months ended Dec. 31 year over year. It added that it had reduced its stake in HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd. to 49.99% in line with the central bank's mandate, by selling its 2,548,750 equity shares in the insurer.
POLICY AND REGULATION
* The People's Bank of China confiscated illegal gains of 19.2 million yuan from Pengyuan Credit Service Co. Ltd. and fined the company 620,000 yuan for operating a personal credit reporting business without a license, Caixin reported.
* Bank of Ningbo Co. Ltd. has been suspended from doing interbank bond-related business for two months, Caixin reported. China's National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors has accused the lender of underwriting bond issues with coupon rates below reasonable valuations since 2020, which regulators said broke fair competition rules and disrupted market order.
* The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court in China ruled that Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. Ltd. must help compensate more than 400 million bondholders of Wuyang Construction Group Co. up to 10% of at least 494 million yuan of their combined debt claims, Bloomberg News reported. In 2017, Wuyang Construction defaulted on two onshore bonds worth almost 1.4 billion yuan.
* Japan's Financial Services Agency will develop country-specific guidelines for social bonds by summer 2021, The Nikkei reported. The regulator will take into account social issues and industry characteristics unique to Japan in drafting the guidelines and clarify key performance indicators to provide a reference for rating agencies.
* Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission appointed Archinee Pattamasukhon as assistant secretary-general of its stakeholders relations division, effective Jan. 1, according to a release.
* The Indian government may approve setting up a bank investment company in the next Union budget and will begin the process of amending laws governing banks, Business Standard reported. The central bank and the government have been discussing such plans since June 2020, the report said.
* The Australian Securities and Investments Commission banned mortgage broker Astna Shirtika Sahay from engaging in any credit activities for five years for allowing her father, Shiv Prakash Sahay, to engage in credit activities using her and Absolute Finance's credit representative authority. Shiv Prakash was permanently banned from engaging in credit activity in September 2015.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
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Eden Estopace, Sally Wang, Sarun Saelee, Cathy Hwang, Emi White and Aditya Suharmoko contributed to this report.
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