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Category: Finance

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Finance news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • UBS Brings TV Sports Closer To Life

    UBS Brings TV Sports Closer To Life

    CEO Ralph Hamers wants banking services to be more like Netflix. Now the bank is sponsoring a mini-series that fits with UBS’ private banking plans.

    On November 14, the television mini-series Front Office starts on Players TV channel and – as its says in its title – will be presented by UBS. Switzerland’s biggest bank paid a seven-figure sum for a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the producer Players Media.

    The mini-series revolves around top American athletes discussing business ideas with their fans. The show uses a similar format to The Lion’s Den.

    The series will feature among others, NBA basketball Phoenix Suns player Chris Paul. A year ago, UBS launched a client segment of athletes and entertainers in the U.S.

    It hired former professional football player Adewale Ogunleye (pictured below) to head the unit. Ogunleye, who has an MBA from George Washington University, reports to local private banking chief Jason Chandler.

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  • Barclays Adds Private Banking Trio in Singapore

    Barclays Adds Private Banking Trio in Singapore

    Barclays Private Bank has strengthened its Asia business with three new appointments in Singapore.

    Adrian Khoo and Jaime Huang join Barclays Private Bank in Singapore, according to a statement, as head of strategic client coverage and a private banker, respectively reporting to newly appointed head of the private bank in Singapore, Evonne Tan.

    Khoo joins from Julius Baer where he was a senior relationship manager covering ultra high net worth (UHNW) and family office clients in Southeast Asia. Previously, he held senior roles at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, Asia Capital & Advisors, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Bank.

    Huang joins from Bank of Singapore where she spent the last four years as a director advising UHNW and family office clients in Southeast Asia and China. Huang has over 18 years of private banking and investment advisory experience, previously with Citi, HSBC and ABN AMRO.

    Ken Sze has also been named as the Singapore-based Asia head of investments, reporting to Tan and Barclays Private Bank’s global co-head of investments Jean-Damien Marie.

    Sze will relocate from London where he the British lender’s global head of the funds and ETF business and he retains his role as an active member of Barclays Private Bank’s global investments team. Prior to joining Barclays, Sze worked with HSBC Private Bank in various investment roles.

    These senior appointments underscore our commitment to the region and our growth expansion plans,» said Tan in the statement.  I look forward to working with them as we continue to harness the synergies between our strong business platforms across the Asian region and focus on the collaboration opportunities with Barclays leading investment and corporate Bank to bring bespoke solutions to our family offices and UHNW clients in Singapore and Asia.

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  • China Records First Case of Money Laundering via CBDC

    China Records First Case of Money Laundering via CBDC

    The pioneer of central bank digital currency, China recorded its first case of money laundering via the electronic yuan.

    Officials arrested 11 members of a criminal group in the Fujian province last week for allegedly laundering money using the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to Chinese media reports.

    The group allegedly scammed an individual after making false claims of ordering an item with quality issues.

    The victim was instructed to transfer more than 200,00 yuan ($31,000) to multiple accounts provided by the suspects.

    China is widely considered a CBDC pioneer after starting research into the field as early as 2014 and recently rolling out the digital yuan for public use via pilot programs.

    Although there is still no official launch date, many onlookers expect a full introduction in February 2022 in time for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

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  • Over 130,000 investors enter stock market

    Over 130,000 investors enter stock market

    More than 130,000 new investors opened stock trading accounts in October, including 129,750 local investors, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository.

    129,200 of the local investors were retail ones.

    At the end of October there were over 3.86 million accounts. The number increased for a third straight month amid news of government economic stimulus of around VND800 trillion ($34.78 billion).

    The benchmark VN-Index rose to a new peak of 1,456.51 points on Friday, led by energy stocks, though trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange dipped slightly to VND26.14 trillion.

    The government targets having 3 percent of the population participating in equity markets by the end of this year and 5 percent by 2025 under its Scheme for Restructuring Securities and Insurance Markets, which it finalized in early 2019.

  • Allianz Asia Pacific Appoints CEO

    Allianz Asia Pacific Appoints CEO

    The Asia Pacific unit of Allianz has named a new chief executive officer to succeed Solman Altin, who has decided to leave the firm after first joining 13 years ago.

    Anusha Thavarajah has been named regional CEO of Allianz Asia Pacific, according to a statement.

    In her new role, Thavarajah has been tasked with delivering long-term growth and driving ongoing transformation efforts.

    Thavarajah has over 30 years of financial services experience and is currently Allianz Asia Pacific’s regional CEO of life and health after joining the business in December 2019 from AIA Malaysia.

    «Having joined our Asia senior leadership team since 2019, [Thavarajah] is also no stranger to our management philosophy and will bring valuable experience and insights, built over a long and illustrious career in insurance,» said Sergio Balbinot, member of the management board of Allianz SE.

  • ZaloPay reports losses of $36.5 mln

    ZaloPay reports losses of $36.5 mln

    Zion JSC, which owns e-payment service ZaloPay, said it racked up losses exceeding VND840 billion ($36.5 million) in the first nine months this year.

    Incurring losses of VND667 billion last year, Zion has heavily invested in boosting ZaloPay coverage, competing with other payment intermediaries in recent years.

    Vietnamese online gaming giant VNG, which holds a major stake in ZaloPay, made revenues of nearly VND5.7 trillion in the first nine months of this year, up more than 28 percent year-on-year, and gross profits of over VND2.7 trillion, up 34 percent.

    VNG, which targets revenues of over VND7.6 trillion this year, up 26 percent against last year, is diversifying business by focusing on payments, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

    According to VNG’s 2020 annual report, the number of monthly ZaloPay users quadrupled against 2019.

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  • Lower Allowances Fuel DBS Profit Growth

    Lower Allowances Fuel DBS Profit Growth

    An improved credit environment coupled with lower allowances enabled DBS to post a surge in third quarter profits.

    DBS registered a 31 percent year-on-year increase in net profit to S$1.7 billion ($1.26 billion) for the third quarter, according to its latest results.

    Not unlike its peers, this was driven primarily by a significant improvement in allowances for credit and other losses – minus S$70 million compared to S$554 million booked in the same period last year.

    Excluding the allowances, the bank posted S$1.893 billion in profits, a 7 percent year-on-year decrease.

    Although DBS saw loans grow 2 percent and fee income reach the second-highest level on record, a 10 percent drop in other non-interest income led total income to stay flat (minus 1 percent) at S$3.561 billion.

    Expenses also climbed 8 percent higher to S$1.668 billion.

    Although the DBS’ profits were in part affected by lower net interest income, the bank expects a change in the rates environment to support upcoming improvements to the bottom line.

    A progressive normalization of interest rates in the coming quarters will be beneficial to earnings, said DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta.

    Asset quality continues to be resilient and total allowances are likely to remain low. These positives will offset expected cost pressures as the economic recovery takes hold.

  • DBS to Ramp Up Intelligent Banking Capabilities

    DBS to Ramp Up Intelligent Banking Capabilities

    The bank is setting aside more funds to bolster infrastructure, talent and technology to deliver hyper-personalized experiences to better serve wealthy and retail customers.

    DBS Bank aims to boost hyper-personalized experiences across its digital and physical touchpoints and will be investing S$300 million ($222 million) over the next year to boost its digital and intelligent banking capabilities.

    This investment represents a 14 percent year-on-year increase, and will go towards enhancing tech infrastructure and talent, embedding predictive technology in more financial solutions to better empower self-directed customers, and scaling the bank’s capabilities across both online and offline touchpoints across the region, DBS announced on Tuesday.

    According to the bank, its Intelligent Banking engine combines predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to transform raw data into personalized insights and nudges for every customer.

    This predictive technology is currently used in its «Client Connect» frontline advisory tool, and to generate smart insights and nudges for retail and wealth customers on its digibank platform. DBS said it plans to scale the use of Intelligent Banking across other key markets and extend it to the its PayLah! app.

    It’s still early days, but we are confident in the value-add that Intelligent Banking can bring to the banking industry, and we are in this for the long haul, Sim S. Lim, group head of consumer banking and wealth management, said.

  • VanEck Expands in Singapore

    VanEck Expands in Singapore

    New York-headquartered fund house VanEck expands in Singapore with the hire of a new marketing manager.

    VanEck hires Tiffany Tan as a marketing manager based in Singapore, according to a statement.

    Prior to joining, Tan was an investment writer at Nikko Asset Management Group. Previously, she also worked for Eastspring Investments as a fixed income portfolio specialist and Partners Group as a product manager.

    We are continuing to see strong appetite for our strategies, said VanEck Asia Pacific chief executive and managing director Arian Neiron.

    In addition, we expect further momentum to build in the Asia-Pacific region as the low-interest rate environment has seen an uplift in institutional investor risk-taking in the pursuit of income strategies, and thematic ETFs drawing attention from investors seeking structural growth opportunities.

  • Vietnamese company seeks full divestment from LienVietPostBank

    Vietnamese company seeks full divestment from LienVietPostBank

    Vietnamese construction and real estate company Thaiholdings said it has registered to sell all 22.4 million shares of lender LienVietPostBank to restructure its portfolio.

    The transaction is scheduled to take place between Nov. 4 and Dec. 3 through order matching and put-through orders.

    With the LienVietPostBank (LPB) share trading at VND21,150 ($0.9) on Nov. 1, down nearly 30 percent against June. 3, Thaiholdings will get nearly VND474 billion if it successfully sells all the shares.

    In late October, State Securities Commission, Vietnam’s stock market watchdog, fined Thaiholdings to the tune of VND260 million for buying over 145,000 LPB shares in May and selling nearly 720,000 LPB shares in June without publicizing its plans regarding the two transactions in advance as stipulated.

    Nguyen Duc Thuy, Thaiholdings’ founder, is LienVietPostBank vice chairman, so the company is subject to publicize its planned share transactions.

    Now, the founder of Thaiholdings has no positions in the company, merely owning a 24.5 percent stake in the firm.

    LienVietPostBank reported pre-tax profits of over VND2.8 trillion in the first nine months of this year, posting a year-on-year surge of 60 percent. Its total assets stood at more than VND254 trillion.

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  • StanChart Profits Surge on Lower Credit Impairments

    StanChart Profits Surge on Lower Credit Impairments

    Significantly lower credit impairments coupled with positive business momentum led to a surge in Standard Chartered’s pre-tax profits for the third quarter.

    Standard Chartered posted $1.075 billion in pre-tax profits for the third quarter, according to its latest results, marking a 44 percent year-on-year increase.

    Not unlike its regional peers throughout the year, the reduction of credit impairments – 70 percent to $107 million compared to $353 million in the same period last year – was a significant contributor to the improved bottom line.

    In addition to an improved balance sheet, the broader business experienced positive momentum with net interest income up 7 percent to $1.735 billion and other income also up 7 percent to $2.03 billion.

    We delivered a return to top-line growth in the third quarter and achieved further progress against our strategic priorities, with a strong performance in our Financial Markets and Trade businesses and ongoing positive momentum in Wealth Management, said Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters.

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  • HSBC Singapore Rolls Out Dart Platform for Corporates

    HSBC Singapore Rolls Out Dart Platform for Corporates

    The bank’s new online platform for corporate customers simplifies receivables collection and improves transparency and monitoring capabilities.

    HSBC Singapore is launching another digital solution for corporate customers – Dart, or the Digital Accounts Receivables Tool, which connects businesses to their customers by enabling the exchange of invoice and payment information, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

    According to the bank, receivables reconciliation remains a key challenge for treasury functions that receive and process large volumes of payments on a daily basis, particularly when identifying payers and matching with invoices.

    Supply chain resilience has become synonymous with digitization, and the receivables reconciliation process is a prime candidate for transformation, Winnie Yap, HSBC Singapore head of global liquidity and cash management, said.

    Digital Capabilities

    HSBC has rolled out a number of digitally-driven solutions for its corporate customers in recent months, including a multi-currency digital wallet for corporate customers, Omni Collect – a one-stop digital solution for all payment collections needs.

    The bank said it will progressively widen the capabilities available on Dart, as it optimizes its digital services to support customers.

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  • UOB Posts Quarterly Profit Growth

    UOB Posts Quarterly Profit Growth

    The bank rode on loan growth and fee income, as well as lower credit allowance, to post modest growth amid slower-than-expected economic recovery across the region.

    UOB’s net profit after tax for the third quarter of 2021 was 4 percent higher quarter-on-quarter to reach S$1.05 billion ($780 million), according to financial results published on Wednesday.

    During the quarter, cross-border revenue remained stable while loan-related, wealth and fund management, as well as credit card fees, saw strong growth, UOB said. Its credit outlook remains stable, with its CET1 ratio remaining at 13.5 percent.

    Compared to last year, the quarter’s profit was 57 percent higher and year-to-date, the bank’s performance grew 37 percent to S$3.06 billion, amid improved business sentiment and rising income.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the bank highlighted its connectivity, digital and sustainability capabilities, as well as its initiatives in areas such as decentralized finance and digital assets, as well as its unified digital platform TMRW, as areas that would help it build on its growth momentum.

    Amid near-term uncertainties, the gradual reopening of borders bodes well for business flows and we remain positive of strong activities along the Greater China-Asean trade corridors. Our strong fundamentals enable us to continue investing to deepen our capabilities in connectivity, digital innovation and sustainability – areas that are set to drive Asia’s growth for the decades to come,» Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO, said.

  • OCBC Profits Climb Higher on Lower Allowances

    OCBC Profits Climb Higher on Lower Allowances

    OCBC’s posted a robust profit increase in the third quarter, which was fueled by a significant reduction in allowances.

    OCBC registered S$1.22 billion ($904 million) in net profit for the third quarter, according to its latest results, marking a 19 percent year-on-year increase.

    A significant reduction of allowances by 54 percent to S$163 million due to an improved credit outlook was a major contributor to profit growth.

    Total income was flat at 1 percent growth to S$2.56 billion while operating expenses and associates grew 8 percent and 33 percent, respectively. As a result, pre-allowance operating profit was flat, decreasing 1 percent to S$1.576 billion.

    Overall wealth management income – including insurance, premier and private banking, asset management and stockbroking – was down 7.4 percent to S$897 million.

    OCBC’s private wealth arm, Bank of Singapore, saw assets under management increase 6 percent to S$167 billion ($123 billion) driven by inflows of net new money and positive market valuations.

    Our third-quarter results were resilient, despite the challenging conditions associated with the Delta virus variant,» said OCBC chief executive Helen Wong. We remain positive on the long-term outlook but are watchful of the near-term headwinds from the pandemic.

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  • StanChart Profits Surge on Lower Credit Impairments

    StanChart Profits Surge on Lower Credit Impairments

    Significantly lower credit impairments coupled with positive business momentum led to a surge in Standard Chartered’s pre-tax profits for the third quarter.

    Standard Chartered posted $1.075 billion in pre-tax profits for the third quarter, according to its latest results, marking a 44 percent year-on-year increase.

    Not unlike its regional peers throughout the year, the reduction of credit impairments – 70 percent to $107 million compared to $353 million in the same period last year – was a significant contributor to the improved bottom line.

    In addition to an improved balance sheet, the broader business experienced positive momentum with net interest income up 7 percent to $1.735 billion and other income also up 7 percent to $2.03 billion.

    We delivered a return to top-line growth in the third quarter and achieved further progress against our strategic priorities, with a strong performance in our Financial Markets and Trade businesses and ongoing positive momentum in Wealth Management, said Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters.