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Tag: Banking

  • HSBC Launches Fund Administration Services in Thailand

    HSBC Launches Fund Administration Services in Thailand

    This move is in line with the change in the securities services landscape in Thailand, which has relaxed outsourcing rules to boost the efficiency of local fund managers’ operations.

    By outsourcing their back-office operations to HSBC, asset owners and managers will be able to focus on their core offerings, the bank said in an announcement on Tuesday.

    The service will be available on HSBC’s Multifonds fund administration platform. HSBC clients already have access to custody and fund supervisory services offered by the bank.

    “Our clients have expressed a keen desire to improve efficiency and reduce cost, reduce operational risk, adapt to their investors’ need and manage regulatory changes effectively, Utumporn Viranuvatti, HCBC head of securities services, Thailand, said in the announcement.

    The bank said it has many other offerings planned a part of HSBC Securities Services’ Asia-first strategy to accelerate growth in the region by ramping up its investment in additional solutions and capabilities.

    HSBC has been expanding its offerings in Thailand as part of its bid to strengthen its Asean coverage. HSBC Private Bank launched its onshore business in the kingdom in February 2021, the bank’s second onshore business in the region after Singapore.

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  • HSBC Scales Up Structured Product Capabilities

    HSBC Scales Up Structured Product Capabilities

    Luxury as an investment theme is poised to benefit from strong economic recovery led by Asian economies in the post-COVID-19 world. Against this background, HSBC has rolled out a new structured product linked to a customized index.

    In an effort to further the bank’s ambition of becoming Asia’s leading wealth management bank, HSBC scales up its structured product capabilities in Hong Kong and Malaysia. In addition to a wide array of products linked to standard and thematic market indices, the bank has rolled out a new structured product linked to a customized index, providing an investment opportunity for wealthy clients to capitalize on the growing luxury consumption in Asia, HSBC announced in a statement on Monday.

    Luxury spending from Asia, and in particular mainland China, already accounts for a significant portion of global luxury consumption. Luxury as an investment theme is poised to benefit from strong economic recovery led by Asian economies in the post-COVID-19 world.

    The growth of the wealth management market is unparalleled in Asia, underpinned by the expansion in high net worth population and the increase in their sophistication. Therefore, we are working closely with our Global Markets colleagues to bring innovative structured products to our customers. This index-linked structured product exemplifies our commitment to meet customers’ diverse wealth management needs aligned to prevalent investment themes, Maggie Ng, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking, Hong Kong, HSBC, said,

    HSBC’s new luxury index provides investors dynamic exposure to a list of global stocks that have high exposures to the luxury sector.

    To accelerate the growth of the wealth business in Asia, Global Markets continues to invest in our product manufacturing capabilities leveraging our market expertise, and deliver bespoke solutions for wealth clients, said Justin Chan, Head of Greater China, Global Markets, Asia-Pacific, HSBC.

    HSBC Global Research estimates that the luxury goods market in mainland China will likely achieve 48 percent growth in 2020, doubling its overall share of the global luxury market in 2020, with further growth expected through to 2025. We are also bullish on the sector due to the likely consolidation seen in the industry and the use of more affordable online sales channels», he added.

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  • China Banking Regulator Appoints Vice Chairman

    China Banking Regulator Appoints Vice Chairman

    China’s banking and insurance watchdog has made an internal promotion for the appointment of a new vice-chairman.

    Xiao Yuanqi has been promoted to the new role, according to a Caixin report citing unnamed sources.

    Xiao was most recently the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission’s (CBIRC) chief risk officer.

    In addition to banking supervision experience, Xiao previously worked for Bank of China and the People’s Bank of China. He authors dozens of academic articles and publications while also serving as a part-time professor at Tsinghua University.

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  • LINE BK Tops 2 Million Users in First Four Months

    LINE BK Tops 2 Million Users in First Four Months

    LINE Corporation today announced that LINE BK, Thailand’s first social banking service, surpassed 2 million users as of February 23, just four months after starting operations.

    Since launching in October 2020, LINE BK has exceeded expectations in terms of transaction volume, loan applications, and the number of new users. As many as 50,000 new savings accounts are opened on a single day, and the total amount of financial transactions on the platform over the first four months has surpassed 21 billion baht (about US$700 million).

    As of late February, LINE BK had issued personal loans with an outstanding balance of over 5 billion baht (about US$165 million), and during peak periods, LINE BK saw more than 40,000 loan applications on a single day — and 30% of those approved had never received a loan before. Those numbers clearly demonstrate how Thailand has a strong need for an all-in-one, fully digital financial services app.

    LINE BK offers a wide range of integrated financial solutions—including special rate accounts with interest rates of up to 1.5% annually and debit cards—all within the LINE app so users do not have to switch between apps or memorize bank account numbers. Through LINE BK Credit Line, our personal loan service, customers can easily apply for personal loans anywhere, at any time, and get approved instantly, at which point the funds become immediately available.

    “We are very pleased to see how quickly LINE BK has been accepted by the Thai people,” said Young Eun Kim, Chief Operating Officer of LINE Financial Asia and Chairman of the Board of Directors of KASIKORN LINE. “We opened LINE BK on the principle of ‘Banking in Your Hand’, offering people greater convenience and accessibility for their main banking services. Moreover, additional benefits like cashback deals and low interest rates on loans have also helped users embrace LINE BK.”

    Moving forward, LINE BK will offer more financial solutions, expanding its portfolio to cover insurance and financial investment products.

    LINE BK is a collaboration between KASIKORNBANK (or KBank), through its subsidiary KASIKORN Vision Company Limited (or KVision), and LINE Corporation, through its subsidiary LINE Financial Asia, with the objective of creating synergy between KBank’s digital banking leadership in Thailand and LINE’s 47 million digital users. As the first comprehensive “social banking” platform in Thailand, LINE BK aims to be accessible for everyone and ensure a better financial experience for people’s daily lives.

    LINE is currently developing plans to expand banking services into other countries, including Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

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  • UBS Lifts Ex-CEO Sergio Ermotti’s Pay in Final Year

    UBS Lifts Ex-CEO Sergio Ermotti’s Pay in Final Year

    Swiss bank UBS lifted pay for outgoing CEO Sergio Ermotti by nearly 14 percent and granted its new CEO Ralph Hamers a $3.3 million bonus for four months of work.

    Zurich-based UBS paid Sergio Ermotti 14.2 million Swiss francs ($15.4 million) last year, according to its annual report disclosed on Friday, from 12.5 million francs last year. The Swiss banker ran the bank from 2011 until October 31.

    The board of directors recognizes that Sergio Ermotti successfully led UBS through a very challenging year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic,» UBS said in an excerpt of his performance assessment included in the report.

    Ralph Hamers, who took over as CEO of the Swiss wealth manager four months ago, was paid 4.5 million francs, according to the report. At ING, Hamers earned 2.6 million euros ($3.1 million) in 2019, his last full year running the Dutch bank.

    It is common knowledge that Switzerland pays better than wider Europe: Even after a big cut in 2019, Ermotti’s payday made him the top-earning CEO of a listed European bank. Hamers’ UBS bonus last year – 3 million francs – alone is larger than his entire 2019 salary from ING.

    Ralph Hamers has launched a number of strategic initiatives, all with the aim of ensuring the continued long-term success of UBS,» the bank said.

    The unexpected reopening of a criminal investigation into Hamers in the Netherlands puts the Swiss bank on the back foot: it desperately needs its new CEO’s know-how to revitalize, but not with those plans effectively captive to the Dutch legal process, nor at the cost to its reputation.

    UBS had to pay a modest 164,000 francs to «make whole» Hamers – or to compensate him for ING instruments and awards he abandoned to join the Swiss bank. By contrast, it paid Iqbal Khan 8.1 million francs to replace Credit Suisse awards when UBS poached him as private bank co-head in 2019.

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  • DBS Loan to Spur Green Solutions in Maritime Industry

    DBS Loan to Spur Green Solutions in Maritime Industry

    The bank has issued a sustainability-linked loan to Sembcorp Marine, which references the Singapore Overnight Rate Average.

    The $500 million sustainability-linked financing facility, believed to be the industry’s first, will help steep the maritime giant to cleaner, greener and renewable energy solutions, the two sides announced in a joint statement on Thursday.

    The loan’s interest rate comprises a compounded daily SORA rate calculated in arrears and an applicable margin. The loan features interest rate discounts linked to pre-determined Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets, which are aligned with Sembcorp Marine’s performance targets set out in the group’s sustainability report.

    The inclusion of green financing dovetails with our strategic transformation and pivot since 2015 to provide innovative engineering solutions to the global offshore & marine and energy industries, William Goh, Sembcorp Marine’s group finance director, said.

    In 2019, some S$530 million of Sembcorp Marine’s projects were related to green solutions. The company has also introduced more green features in its operations, such as the use of solar energy to reduce emissions.

    As a purpose-driven bank, we believe financial institutions have a strategic and pivotal role to play in proactively supporting industries’ work towards a lower-carbon future, Dorian Delteil, DBS head of oil and gas, said.

    DBS recently raised its commitment to finance S$50 billion in renewable, clean energy and green projects by 2024, up from S$20 billion previously.

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  • StanChart Revamps Hong Kong Branches

    StanChart Revamps Hong Kong Branches

    Standard Chartered continues making transformations to its physical presence in Hong Kong, including plans to revamp its branches in the city.

    Standard Chartered will revamp its Hong Kong branches with plans to create paperless services with more digitalization, according to its chief executive for the market Mary Huen during a post-results briefing. More private rooms will also be built for in-person meetings between clients and their wealth managers.

    Branch visits fell 25 percent during the pandemic, Huen said, with more demand for financial services through digital channels.

    The bank will look to add, relocate or close some branches with the aim of maintaining 70 in the city.

    Elsewhere in the city, where the bank employs around 6,000 workers, Standard Chartered is already making changes to its physical presence.

    It is shedding multiple floors from its Hong Kong main office and renting out space from another office located in an industrial district in the eastern part of the city.

    In November last year, the bank said it would roll out flexible working options for around half of its 85,000 staff worldwide by early 2021. Standard Chartered employees in Hong Kong reportedly started using co-working spaces last month operated by IWG as part of a 12-month trial for access to 3,500 offices globally.

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  • StanChart Profits Plunge and Miss Estimates

    StanChart Profits Plunge and Miss Estimates

    Profits at Standard Chartered more than halved in 2020 and miss analyst estimates, according to its latest annual results.

    Standard Chartered posted $1.61 billion in pre-tax profits for 2020, a 57 percent plunge compared to 2019’s $3.71 billion.

    It also missed the average forecast of $1.85 billion, according to analyst estimates compiled by the bank.

    Credit impairments increased from $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion.

    According to the bank, the impact of global interest rates will cause income levels in 2021 to be similar to 2020, though credit impairments are expected to decrease.

    The bank also forecasts annual income growth of 5-7 percent to return in 2022.

    Returns in 2020 were clearly impacted by higher provisions, reduced economic activity and low-interest rates, in each case the result of COVID-19,» said Bill Winters, Standard Chartered group chief executive.

  • HSBC Expands China Private Banking Footprint

    HSBC Expands China Private Banking Footprint

    HSBC continues to voice its ambitions to pivot to Asia with plans to extend its onshore private banking services to ten mainland cities in the coming five years.

    Days after securing $3.5 billion in investments for its wealth unit over the next five years, HSBC reiterated its ambitions in Asia, home to nearly half of the bank’s $1.6 trillion of wealth balance and 65 percent of group revenue.

    Regional head of wealth and personal banking Greg Hingston set out plans for the mainland market during this five-year period including the extension of private banking to ten cities onshore and the doubling of its client base for Jade – a segment targeting clients with a $1-5 million in investable assets (the private bank targets clients with $5 million or more), according to a statement.

    Hinston said the bank also aims to double its Jade client base in Singapore and become a lead foreign bank for non-resident Indians.

    The bank also reiterated its hiring goals with plans to add more than 5,000 client-facing wealth-related roles in the next five years. These roles include relationship managers, investment counselors and specialists to support clients in Hong Kong, Singapore, and mainland China.

    The bank also underlined its intention to improve its distribution in the three markets; digital and platform capabilities in the broader region; and product development, especially for high and ultra-high net worth clients.

    We have a bold but achievable ambition, to be Asia’s leading wealth management provider by 2025, said Nuno Matos, HSBC’s chief executive for wealth and personal banking.

  • StanChart CEO Signals He Will Stay on the Job

    StanChart CEO Signals He Will Stay on the Job

    Despite rumors of Bill Winter’s potential exit, the 59-year old chief executive said he would stay with Standard Chartered following a 2020 that saw profits miss analyst targets and plummet 57 percent.

    Although rumors of an exit emerged earlier this year with investment and commercial banking chief Simon Cooper reportedly named as a potential successor, Bill Winters publicly reassured of his stay with the British lender.

    Don’t let the grey hair fool you,» said Winters, during a media call for the bank’s 2020 financial results. «I came here to do a job – the job is not yet done.

    Winters was named group chief for Standard Chartered in 2015 and will celebrate his sixth full year with the bank in June this year.“

    That job is a mandate to return to growth after pre-tax profits in 2020 plunged 57 percent to $1.61 billion, missing analyst estimates of $1.85 billion while returning just 3 percent on tangible equity (ROTE), well below its longer-term target of 10 percent.

    While the bank noted that low-interest rates will likely cause 2021 to yield similar income levels as last year it was confident that it would reverse momentum quickly with plans to achieve 5-7 percent income growth from 2022 onwards. The is done with the aim of achieving 7 percent ROTE by 2023 to meet its longer-term target of more than 10 percent ROTE.

    The bank highlighted its refreshed strategic priorities which focus on four areas: leveraging its network, maintaining its affluent business, scaling up its mass retail business and capitalizing on opportunities in sustainability. a

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  • HSBC Replaces Singapore Chief

    HSBC Replaces Singapore Chief

    HSBC has named a new Singapore chief executive to succeed Tony Cripps who is set to leave and join Saudi British Bank.

    Wong Kee Joo has been appointed as HSBC’s new Singapore CEO, according to a report citing an internal memo.

    Wong replaces Tony Cripps who is set to become the managing director-designate and board member of the Saudi British Bank (SABB), where HSBC is the largest shareholder at 31 percent, effective April 4.

    Before Wong takes on the new role on June 1, HSBC Singapore’s chief operating officer Olfert De Wit will act as the interim Singapore CEO.

    Wong is currently the Asia Pacific head for global liquidity and cash management and according to HSBC’s deputy chairman and chief executive Peter Wong, such a role has enabled «strong experience in developing digital solutions for wholesale clients and supporting the trade and investment flows between China and ASEAN.

    He had also previously worked in various markets including the U.K., Thailand, Hong Kong, and mainland China.

    We will be increasing our investment in both people and technology as we continue to strengthen our wholesale banking services and to grasp the growing wealth management opportunities in Southeast Asia and beyond, the memo said.

  • Citi Rolls Out Digital-Only Offering in Hong Kong

    Citi Rolls Out Digital-Only Offering in Hong Kong

    The Citi Plusdigital wealth platform was officially rolled out on Monday in Hong Kong, following a pilot launch in December 2020.

    Catered to digital natives, Citi Plus offers personalized wealth management information and knowledge kits for clients and introduces gamification to build healthy financial habits and achieve targets responsibly.

    Millennials were invited to participate in research and the co-creation process, through which we could better address target clients’ pain points, and help them grow their wealth via the new service, Lawrence Lam, Citibank Hong Kong consumer business manager, said.

    The bank said it will launch the platform in other markets in the Asia Pacific region in the future, and is looking to add up to 200,000 clients over the next few years with a target of doubling its base within the next 24 months.

    Citi Plus offers stocks, money market funds, as well as an array of mutual funds primarily from ASI, Allianz Global Investors and Franklin Templeton, are offered on the platform.

    ASI said the partnership is an important part of the firm’s regional distribution strategy for 2021, according to a statement. We’re excited to play our part in enabling a new generation of digital-native investors to take control of their finances and invest for a better future, Andrew Hendry, ASI head of distribution Asia Pacific, said.

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  • UOB Partners to Help Singapore Firms Expand

    UOB Partners to Help Singapore Firms Expand

    The bank has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Singapore Business Federation to connect Singapore businesses to opportunities across Asean, especially in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

    UOB will help more Singapore companies seize cross-border business opportunities as the financial partner of GlobalConnect@SBF strategic partnerships initiative, the bank announced in a statement on Friday.

    Under the agreement, both organizations will share information and resources with Singapore companies, including SBF’s 27,000 members, and provide on-ground assistance. UOB will also provide financial support and help the businesses in their digitalization journey.

    The bank noted that its extensive network and strong presence in Asean will complement the initiative to facilitate Singapore businesses making in-roads into the region, and emphasized the region’s $3 trillion economy and growth prospects.

    Having weathered the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are now looking for growth and expansion opportunities. One of the most compelling opportunities is where UOB has strongest presence – ASEAN, with its fast-growing economy and vast potential, Wee Ee Cheong, UOB deputy chairman and CEO, said.

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  • Singapore’s Shopee to Launch Digital Bank in Indonesia

    Singapore’s Shopee to Launch Digital Bank in Indonesia

    Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Singapore’s Sea Group, is planning on transforming Indonesian lender Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi (Bank BKE) into a digital bank, according to a «Reuters» report on Thursday.

    An Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) official said that Shopee has yet to make an official application with the banking regulators, but is «currently preparing the infrastructure» for the transformation.

    The bank, which began operations in 1992, was acquired by Shopee in January from the Jakarta-based lender’s existing shareholders Danadipa Artha Indonesia and Koin Investama Nusantara through its subsidiary Tubro Cash Hong Kong.

    Indonesia is in the midst of preparing regulations for new digital banks, which is expected to be released in mid-2021. A digital lender like Bank BKE would be expected to prepare 3 trillion rupiah ($213.64 million) in capital, the official said.

    Sea – Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup – raised close to $3 billion in a stock offering in December 2020. The company was also one of two to be awarded a license to operate a full digital bank in Singapore.

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  • HSBC Investment Strategists Named to Expanded Roles

    HSBC Investment Strategists Named to Expanded Roles

    HSBC makes three new appointments to oversee the overall investment strategy across the newly merged wealth unit.

    The bank appoints Fan Cheuk Wan as Asia chief investment officer (CIO) for private banking and wealth management, according to a statement. In her expanded role, she will oversee investment strategies and themes across all asset classes for the bank’s affluent and super affluent segment, Premier and Jade, respectively, in addition to the private banking segment.

    Fan is a wealth industry veteran and joined HSBC’s private banking arm in 2016. She previously worked with Credit Suisse, ABN AMRO, Cazenove, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered.

    In addition, the bank has also appointed Patrick Ho as the North Asia CIO and James Cheo as the Southeast Asia CIO for the unit. This is also an expanded role for Ho and Cheo who previously solely served the private bank.

    Ho joined HSBC Private Banking in 2017 and previously worked with Credit Suisse, UBS, Bear Sterns and BNP Paribas. Cheo rejoined in 2019 and previously worked with Barclays.

    The wealth and personal banking division was created in early last year by merging retail banking and wealth management, asset management, insurance and private banking to create a unit with $1.5 trillion in assets as of the third quarter of 2020.