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Tag: bank

  • 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.

  • Citi’s Victor Alexiev to Take on New Global Role

    Citi’s Victor Alexiev to Take on New Global Role

    He will lead a global team of former entrepreneurs, innovation strategists, product managers and venture builders to accelerate the development of new solutions at Citi’s internal incubation program.

    Citi has announced the appointment of Singapore-based Victor Alexiev as head of D10X for its Institutional Clients Group (ICG), effective immediately, the firm announced on Friday.

    Alexiev joined Citi in 2018 as the Asia head of D10X, which was launched in 2016 under Citi Ventures, and is focused on the exploration of new strategic opportunities for growth and value creation for the bank. His initial remit was focused on Citi’s markets and securities services business and in 2020, it was expanded to include all of Citi Ventures’ ICG-relevant programs and strategic partnerships across Asia.

    He will relocate next summer for the new role, which reports to Valla Vakili, global head of venture innovation for Citi Ventures. He will also have a matrix reporting line to Gulru Atak, managing director, ICG business development, innovation.

    Under his leadership, the D10X team in Asia has launched three products to market, with a combined obtainable market value of over $500 million, Citi said. One of the projects includes a fully automated securities lending solution for asset aggregators in partnership with fintech Sharegain.

    The D10X team in Asia has also supported industry initiatives such as the development of a blueprint for securities tokenization led by the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), and has also been actively involved in the continuous development of the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Asia.

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  • Citi Names Regaional Co-Heads of BCMA

    Citi Names Regaional Co-Heads of BCMA

    They will replace David Biller, who will be relocating to Europe at the end of the year to take on a broader role as co-head of industrials for EMEA, Asia and Japan.

    Citi has appointed Matthew Nimtz and Jonathan Quek as co-heads of Asean banking, capital markets and advisory (BCMA), effective immediately, according to an internal memo seen.

    Nimtz and Quek are long-time Citi veterans and have worked together in Singapore for the past 10 years, Citi said. Nimtz leads the ASEAN M&A franchise, while Quek is co-head of real estate investment banking, Asia, as well as head of investment banking, Singapore.

    The pair will report to Jan Metzger for BCMA and Amol Gupte for ASEAN.  They will also maintain their existing roles in M&A (reporting to Colin Banfield) and real estate (reporting to Tom Flexner), respectively. Asean corporate banking country heads will report into Nimtz and Quek, in addition to their current reporting lines into Kaleem Rizvi for corporate banking and the respective CCOs, According to an internal memo seen.

    Matt and Jon’s leadership will be instrumental in continuing the strong momentum in the increasingly important Asean market,» Citi said.

    We are running at record levels for capital raising and advisory for clients across Asean. This is a mix of balance sheet strengthening and financing to support growth. There is massive transformation happening across all industries in Asean and with a global network, this has helped sharpen our dialogue with clients as they increasingly want a global perspective,» said the memo.

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  • UBS Chases New Group with Old Idea

    UBS Chases New Group with Old Idea

    UBS is reviving an old idea as it targets a new client segment in the U.S. The move brings back memories of a robo advisor, which the bank ditched a few years ago.

    UBS is targeting the U.S.’ mass affluent individuals with a digital product, which offers wealth management advice from humans remotely, according to a presentation by CEO Ralph Hamers during Tuesday’s third-quarter results. The hybrid offering will be rolled out to clients with a range of $100,000 to $1 million in liquid financial assets.

    Until now UBS was focused on capturing the U.S.’s super-rich. With its new push, the Swiss bank will be going after clients which are sought after by the likes of Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America.

    These U.S. wire houses were quick to understand that retail banking and mass affluent business was the most vulnerable to the onset of financial start-ups and other digitized competitors. UBS made a foray into the affluent market with robo advisor Smartwealth, which it pulled the plug on three years ago, just 18 months after launching the pilot in the U.K.

    Now the bank is reviving and elaborating the idea behind Smartwealth under its new CEO Hamers, who was hired by UBS with a digitization mandate. «We are a trusted brand in the U.S. We see the opportunity to deliver our expertise and our content to a much broader set of clients,» Hamers said.

    UBS already counts two million U.S. clients in the affluent category from its employee stock and retirement plan platform. Since buying U.S. broker Paine Webber in 2000, it has continuously attempted to target higher segments of wealth than the traditional brokerage client. The U.S. unit now manages the wealth manager’s biggest chunk of assets.

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  • Citi Names Regaional Co-Heads of BCMA

    Citi Names Regaional Co-Heads of BCMA

    They will replace David Biller, who will be relocating to Europe at the end of the year to take on a broader role as co-head of industrials for EMEA, Asia and Japan.

    Citi has appointed Matthew Nimtz and Jonathan Quek as co-heads of Asean banking, capital markets and advisory (BCMA), effective immediately, according to an internal memo.

    Nimtz and Quek are long-time Citi veterans and have worked together in Singapore for the past 10 years, Citi said. Nimtz leads the ASEAN M&A franchise, while Quek is co-head of real estate investment banking, Asia, as well as head of investment banking, Singapore.

    The pair will report to Jan Metzger for BCMA and Amol Gupte for ASEAN.  They will also maintain their existing roles in M&A (reporting to Colin Banfield) and real estate (reporting to Tom Flexner), respectively. Asean corporate banking country heads will report into Nimtz and Quek, in addition to their current reporting lines into Kaleem Rizvi for corporate banking and the respective CCOs, According to an internal memo.

    Matt and Jon’s leadership will be instrumental in continuing the strong momentum in the increasingly important Asean market, Citi said.

    We are running at record levels for capital raising and advisory for clients across Asean. This is a mix of balance sheet strengthening and financing to support growth. There is a massive transformation happening across all industries in Asean and with a global network, this has helped sharpen our dialogue with clients as they increasingly want a global perspective, said the memo.

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  • UBS Selling Onshore Business in Spain

    UBS Selling Onshore Business in Spain

    Switzerland’s largest bank is giving up its business with its Spanish onshore clients. This follows a similar move in Austria less than a year ago.

    UBS is selling its Spanish office to Singular Bank according to an emailed statement Monday. This comes after months of speculation that many European markets simply aren’t large enough to warrant a presence.

    Without disclosing the deal amount, the Swiss bank writes in its statement that all client assets, as well as the UBS team in Madrid, are included in the transaction. Investment banking and fund sales activities in Spain will remain with UBS.

    The deal is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2022.

    Last December UBS Europe sold its business with Austria’s onshore wealth to Vaduz-based LGT Bank. The Spanish onshore business holds an estimated 9 to 12 billion euros ($9.8 billion to $13 billion) in assets under management.

    The Austrian business managed 4 billion euros in assets at the time it announced the sale. Under its three-year plan for 2021 to 2023, UBS Europe is making staying profitable despite the turbulent economic backdrop its top priority.

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  • UBS Profit Up in Third Quarter

    UBS Profit Up in Third Quarter

    Switzerland’s largest bank reports a rise in quarterly profits. The bank benefited from its business with the super-wealthy and cut its costs.

    UBS’ third-quarter net profit to $2.28 billion in the third quarter, representing a 9 percent on year increase, it said in statement on Tuesday. The bank was able to cut costs to $6.26 billion from $6.36 billion in the same period last year.

    The Swiss bank was cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year citing effects of the pandemic on the economy, supply chains and labor markets. The bank’s flagship business, global wealth management’s pre-tax profit climbed to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2021.

    The investment banking business benefited from strong activity in financial markets this year. Pre-tax profit rose to $837 million from $668 million in the second quarter of 2021.

    A strategic update is scheduled on February 1. The divide between the two Swiss champions has deepened, with UBS stock gaining 14 percent thus far this year while Credit Suisse has shed more than 15 percent.

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  • HSBC Profits Surge From More Released Loan Loss Reserves

    HSBC Profits Surge From More Released Loan Loss Reserves

    A continued reduction of credit loss provisions fuelled HSBC’s pre-tax profits in the third quarter to comfortably beat analyst expectations.

    HSBC registered $5.4 billion of pre-tax profits in the third quarter, according to its latest earnings report, marking a 76 percent year-on-year growth.

    This marked significant outperformance compared to analysts’ forecasts of $3.78 billion, according to compilations from the bank.

    All regions were profitable including Asia which recorded $3.3 billion of pre-tax gains, a 3.6 percent increase.

    Although reported revenue was up just a modest 1 percent to $12 billion, the bank managed to generate strong results through the reduction of loan loss reserves.

    In the third quarter, HSBC made a net release of $700 million in expected credit losses (ECL) compared to an ECL charge of $800 million in the same quarter last year.

    We had a good third-quarter performance, with strong growth in profits supported by additional credit provision releases, said HSBC CEO Noel Quinn. Our strategy remains on track, with good delivery in all areas. This was reflected in more consistent top-line growth, robust lending pipelines across our businesses, and rising trade and mortgage balances.

    The bank also highlighted a sufficiently strong capital position to prepare for share buybacks totaling up to $2 billion.

    While we retain a cautious outlook on the external risk environment, we believe that the lows of recent quarters are behind us, Quinn said. This confidence, together with our strong capital position, enables us to announce a share buyback which we expect to commence shortly.

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  • DBS Appoints Chief Risk Officer

    DBS Appoints Chief Risk Officer

    A career DBS banker has been named chief risk officer for the Singapore lender, replacing Tan Teck Long.

    Soh Kian Tiong has been named chief risk officer (CRO), according to a statement, reporting to DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta.

    In addition, Soh will also be accountable to the board risk management committee as well as join as a member of the group management committee and group executive committee.

    Soh replaces ex-CRO Tan Teck Long who will be leaving the bank to take on a client-facing role elsewhere.

    Soh has over 25 years of experience, having first joined DBS as a trainee officer in its corporate banking unit in 1995. Since then, he held various senior roles, most recently as a senior risk executive for DBS Hong Kong, Greater China chief credit officer, management committee member of DBS (Hong Kong), and Hong Kong risk executive committee chairman.

    Under Tan’s leadership, DBS has further enhanced our credit underwriting capabilities, multi-year credit architecture program, and strengthened our attention on ESG risks, financial crime risk, and cyber security and data protection. While he will be sorely missed, we respect his desire to return to a customer-facing role,» Gupta said.

    Soh’ appointment is testament to our ability to groom leaders from within. Over the span of his longstanding DBS career, he has been rotated across markets, and embraced a mix of business and risk roles. I am confident that he will bring this experience to bear meaningfully in his new role.

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  • Deutsche Bank Adds Greater China Wealth Vet from HSBC

    Deutsche Bank Adds Greater China Wealth Vet from HSBC

    Deutsche Bank has hired a former HSBC executive as a managing director in its wealth management unit.

    Tse Yi-Mun joins Deutsche Bank Wealth Management as a managing director and group head for North Asia, according to a statement.

    Based in Singapore, she reports to North Asia head of wealth management Kanas Chan.

    Tse has 23 years of private banking experience, most recently with HSBC Private Banking where she was its market head for Hong Kong. Previously, she also worked for DBS and ABN AMRO covering the Greater China market.

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  • Prospective Suitors Ready for Citi’s Asia Retail Sale Deadline

    Prospective Suitors Ready for Citi’s Asia Retail Sale Deadline

    Binding bids for Citigroup’s retail assets across Asia are due within the coming week with interest drawn from both fellow global banks and local players.

    Binding bids for Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand are due on Friday, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources, with offers for India due next week. Deliberations are ongoing and potential buyers could decide not to proceed with their offers.

    This is part of Citi’s ongoing plans to unload its retail assets in 13 markets across Asia and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa with its Australian unit sold to NAB in August.

    A sale of Citi’s Taiwan retail assets could raise about $2 billion to $4 billion, according to the report, depending on which assets are included.

    In April, Taiwan’s government said it would monitor and prevent Citi from transferring high net worth clients to its units in Hong Kong and Singapore.

    Banks planning to make bids include DBS, Standard Chartered, Cathay Financial Holding Co, and Fubon Financial Holding Co., the report added.

    Citi’s Thailand assets is valued at over $2 billion with Bangkok Bank planning to make an offer.

    Mitsubishi UFJ-owned Bank of Ayudhya is also weighing a bid.

    The Indonesia unit is valued at as much as $1 billion with DBS planning to make an offer.

    UOB and Malayan Banking are also making considerations on bidding.

    The Philippines unit is also valued at as much as $1 billion with BDO Unibank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Union Bank of the Philippines all making considerations on extending an offer.

    Valued at about $2 billion, Citi’s India consumer assets are expected to attract a bid from Kotak Mahindra Bank.

    HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are also weighing bids.

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  • Hong Kong and Macau Announce Wealth Connect Bank List

    Hong Kong and Macau Announce Wealth Connect Bank List

    China’s two special administrative regions announced their list of eligible banks to participate in the cross-border wealth management scheme.

    In Hong Kong, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi and more were amongst those on the list of 19 approved banks, according to an announcement yesterday from the city’s central bank.

    Three banks – Bank of East Asia, DBS and Dah Sing Bank – were only allowed to sell products via the southbound route.

    Considering that it will be the first time for retail investors to conduct cross-boundary investments, we will closely monitor the operation of the cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect and step up investor education and investor protection work together with the industry, said Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man in a statement.

    Concurrently, Macau’s central bank also announced its list of seven lenders approved for the cross-border scheme earlier this week.

    Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Construction Bank, China Guangfa Bank, CMB Wing Lung Bank, ICBC and Luso International Banking were approved to launch services in the Wealth Connect program as of yesterday, according to the Monetary Authority of Macau. z

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  • UBS Asset Management Appoints Australasia Country Head

    UBS Asset Management Appoints Australasia Country Head

    UBS Asset Management has named a new country head for Australia and New Zealand.

    Alison Telfer has been named to the role, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.

    She has 20 years of asset management experience, most recently with Blackrock where she was its chief operating officer, general counsel, and head of public policy for Australasia.

    Telfer’s strategic mindset coupled with her extensive Asia Pacific asset management experience will be valuable in helping her position UBS Asset Management for the future, said UBS Australasia joint-country head Nick Hughes.

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  • Deutsche Bank Hires Ex-Bank of Singapore MD

    Deutsche Bank Hires Ex-Bank of Singapore MD

    A former managing director from Bank of Singapore has joined Deutsche Bank’s wealth unit in Singapore.

    Deutsche Bank Wealth Management hired Faye Lee as a managing director, according to a statement, tasked with covering ultra-high net worth clients in Southeast Asia.

    Based in Singapore, she joins a team led by Southeast Asia head Shang-Wei Chow and reports to group head of Southeast Asia Terence Leong.

    Lee has over 17 years of wealth management experience, most recently with Bank of Singapore where she was a managing director. Previously, she also worked for ING Asia Private Bank, prior to OCBC’s acquisition in 2009, Citi and HSBC.

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