Search results
Top Story: ASEAN Banking Integration Framework advances, early definition of QAB
Officials from central banks at the 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday came closer to agreeing on requirements for Southeast Asian banks to do business in other nations in the region. To qualify for the improved market access, banks must reach the status of Qualified Asean Banks. Requirements to be a QAB will include having headquarters in Asean and meeting certain thresholds on capital adequacy and consolidation, restrictions on large exposures, accounting and transparency.
Top Story: IMFC advocates 'pragmatic' approach to resisting capital flows
Emerging markets should lean against capital inflows resulting from accommodative monetary policy in advanced economies, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the deputy prime minister of Singapore and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has said. In addition to his other roles, Tharman is also chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), a committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which met on April 20 in Washington.
Editor's note: We apologize for the month long gap in publication due to a temporary reorientation of resources. Malaysia Clippings is back on weekly release. Comments, suggestions, and feedback are always welcomed.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Top Story: Asia Bankers Ride Southeast Asian Boom
Southeast Asia has become the go-to market for investment banking in Asia, after a year of hot initial public offerings and multibillion-dollar acquisitions by Thai billionaires. The buzz in Southeast Asia has been driven by a growing middle class that is consuming more and more, and companies that have emerged "stronger, stable and debt-free" from the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s, said Eric Varvel, Asia-Pacific chief executive officer at Credit Suisse Group. Not only are the region's tycoons expanding beyond their home markets, "they're getting the financing and leverage from banks like us to do multibillion-dollar deals."
HIGHLIGHTS:
Top Story: G-20 infrastructure fund draws support
Top Story: Time for a confident ASEAN to take off again
The region has the fundamentals, policy and confidence as well as room for "easy" growth. ASEAN is the region to be in again in 2013. After an estimated growth of 5.2 per cent in 2012, ASEAN's GDP (on a PPP weighted basis) will grow 5.3 percent this year, outpacing the IMF's global growth estimate of 3.6 percent. ASEAN certainly still has much more room to grow and catch up with the world, despite the world-beating growth rates registered over the past decade or so. The region is not yet at the stage where factors for growth have become complicated. At the most basic level, the continued urbanization process will help to drive "easy" growth.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Top Story: Global insurance CEOs plan to increase investment in Asia
Asia continues to emerge as a strong focus for business expansion, with more than 80% of global industry CEOs targeting for growth in all parts of the region except Central Asia, say the findings of a recent PwC survey of 92 insurance CEOs across 39 countries. "With growth slowing in mature markets, many CEOs see greater potential in the still largely underpenetrated emerging markets," says the report. Shifting underwriting resources to manage the less familiar and rapidly evolving growth markets is one of the strategic goals identified by the industry leaders.
Top Story: Overhauling forex market of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asian central banks are in talks to overhaul the way reference rates for offshore currency derivatives are set following investigations by banks in Singapore that found traders in the city-state tried to manipulate the market, said the president of Indonesia's foreign exchange industry group. The discussions show heightening concerns at central banks in Indonesia and Malaysia over Singapore's market for non-deliverable currency forwards (NDFs), which they say has undermined foreign exchange controls. The central banks are now using the manipulation probes to try to push for reforms and for more control over a rate-setting process now overseen by the local banking association in Singapore.
Top Story: Asian bonds more attractive than developed market bonds
Asian bonds would continue to provide investors with more attractive yields compared with developed market bonds, while fundamentals of Asian economies and corporates remain relatively sound. Eastspring Investments, in a report on the viability of bonds as an attractive income option, stated that credit spreads of Asian US dollar-denominated bonds were still above their lows, reflecting room for potential spread compression, which could support bond prices and mitigate the impact from the potential modest increases in US risk-free rates.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Top Story: ASEAN needs to retain and mobilize its vast savings and surpluses, S&P
Capital markets in Southeast Asia have the opportunity to better retain and mobilise the high savings rate and surpluses within their borders if they can further develop their local currency bond markets and improve investments among the members of ASEAN, said S&P Ratings Services in a report.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Top Story: Indonesia insurance industry calls for cap on foreign ownership
The General Insurance Association of Indonesia (AAUI) has asked lawmakers to limit foreign ownership of insurance business to boost participation of local investors, reports the Global Times, citing Mr Kornelius Simanjuntak, Chairman of the association. The Chairman adds local investors should be prioritised for their participation in the industry, adding that the limit of the foreign ownership by up to 80% was appropriate, according to a local online news portal.