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Tag: Finance

  • Chubb Appoints Division Head

    Chubb Appoints Division Head

    The property and casualty insurer is bolstering its International Personal Lines (IPL) division in Singapore.

    Chubb has appointed Tulio Puente as division head of IPL in Singapore, effective 22 November 2021, the firm announced on Thursday in a statement.

    Puente, a former economist for the Central Bank of Mexico and in the telecommunications industry in China, joined Chubb in 2014 and has held various roles at the company in Latin America and Asia Pacific, most recently underwriting for Speciality Personal Lines.

    In his new role, Puente will be responsible for the overall growth and management of Singapore’s IPL division, which includes personal risk services, residential insurance, and specialty coverage. He will also focus on growing the firm’s partnerships and driving multi-channel distribution opportunities. He reports to Scott Simpson, country president for Chubb in Singapore.

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  • Citi Posts Strong Institutional Business Growth in Taiwan

    Citi Posts Strong Institutional Business Growth in Taiwan

    Citi’s institutional business in Taiwan saw a significant acceleration in 2021 with numerous transactions across industries including technology, consumer, renewables, and financial services.

    Citi’s Taiwanese institutional clients have been ramping up their efforts to take advantage of the growth environment in areas such as supply chain diversification.

    Taiwan is home to many world-class companies and we are committed to supporting their ambitions, according to a statement citing Christie Chang, head of banking, capital markets, and advisory for Citi Taiwan and chair of APAC corporate banking.

    Within mergers and acquisitions, the American lender advised on five Taiwan-related deals in recent years, including three in 2021.

    The deals this year spanned across businesses related to semiconductor assembly and testing, renewable energy and retail food.

    Citi has also supported billions of dollars in fundraising for Taiwan corporates across local and global capital markets.

    Within equity capital markets, the bank supported fundraising that totaled nearly $1.5 billion in 2021 across businesses linked to financial services, semiconductors, and other electronics manufacturing. And within debt capital markets, it helped raise $8 billion, also for manufacturing-related businesses.

    According to Citi, some of its largest growth inflows this year originated from trade corridors involving Taiwan with a nearly 50 percent increase in Taiwan-to-India flows and around a 20 percent increase in Taiwan-to-ASEAN flows.

    The bank has also observed strong inbound flows into Taiwan, most notably from companies in Australia, India and Japan.

    There is a massive transformation happening across all industries and with a global network this has helped sharpen Citi’s dialogue with clients in Taiwan as they increasingly want a regional and global perspective, Chang added.

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  • Deutsche Adds Over a Dozen Private Bankers in India

    Deutsche Adds Over a Dozen Private Bankers in India

    Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has made a significant expansion in India with the hire of more than a dozen for the front office and product units.

    Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in India has made over 15 hires across relationship management and investment advisory join this year and early 2022, according to a statement.

    The business opportunity in India has become very compelling with the material wealth creation driven by entrepreneurial activity, said Amrit Singh, head of wealth management, global South Asia.

    We are now shifting gears and expanding our long-standing and established team as we seek to support our clients and reach new ones with our full suite of products and solutions.

    For the front office, the German private bank hired Rajasekar Ayyalu to join as a director in Chennai with a focus on expanding and deepening its presence in that region.

    Ayyalu was most recently with Julius Baer where he was an executive director for investments. Previously, he also worked at Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of Scotland.

    The bank has also hired four vice presidents – Jai Bhatia, Sanyam Sharma, Anjali Vashisth and Manish Lalwani – to join as relationship managers in the Delhi and Mumbai offices.

    Deutsche Bank has also been bolstering its product capabilities in India, including the hire of Mayank Khemka as chief investment officer in December 2019 which subsequently led to the launch of a domestic discretionary portfolio management business.

    Adding to its existing shelf of equity multi-cap and multi-asset customized strategies, the bank introduced a fixed income strategy following the hire of Bhupendra Meel as a fixed income fund manager.

    We are delighted to bring on board some of the most promising talents in the private banking industry, said Atinkumar Saha, head of wealth management, Deutsche Bank, India.

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  • Union Bank Chosen as Citi’s Preferred Philippines Bidder

    Union Bank Chosen as Citi’s Preferred Philippines Bidder

    Citigroup has reportedly selected the Union Bank of Philippines as its preferred bidder for its consumer banking assets in the country.

    Citi has chosen Union Bank as its preferred bidder for a potential sale valued at an estimated $1 billion, according to a report citing unnamed sources.

    Talks are still ongoing and no conclusive decisions have been made with other bidders still interested.

    Other reportedly interested bidders for the Philippines consumer banking assets include BDO Unibank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Bank of the Philippines Island.

    The sale is part of Citi’s broader plan to exit from 13 markets where it lacks scale and focus its wealth efforts around hubs in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

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  • Morgan Stanley Follows Suit with Hong Kong Covid Reimbursement

    Morgan Stanley Follows Suit with Hong Kong Covid Reimbursement

    Morgan Stanley is the latest Wall Street lender to provide reimbursements for Hong Kong staff traveling to visit immediate family, outdoing J.P. Morgan’s recently announced Covid benefits by $100.

    Morgan Stanley will provide a one-time reimbursement to Hong Kong staff of up to HK$40,000 ($5,100) for quarantine stays when returning to the city, according to a report citing an internal memo.

    The reimbursement will apply to those returning from travels to see immediate family between December 1 this year and November 30 next year.

    The reimbursement plans come days after a similar move by Wall Street rival J.P. Morgan announced after a 32-hour visit to Hong Kong by chief executive Jamie Dimon which included a rare exemption from the city’s strict quarantine rules.

    We recognize that the costly quarantine measures in place in Hong Kong associated with Covid-19 have impacted many of you with respect to visiting family and loved ones overseas, according to a memo from J.P. Morgan which offered a one-time reimbursement of up to $4,000 – $100 less than Morgan Stanley.

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  • DLA Piper Hires New Partner in Hong Kong

    DLA Piper Hires New Partner in Hong Kong

    Over the past couple of years, DLA Piper has welcomed several new partners to its Asia Corporate practice. Now the firm announces another hire.

    Global law firm DLA Piper continues to strengthen Asia capital markets offering with new partner hire in Hong Kong, the firm announced Monday. George Wu was appointed as a capital markets partner in its corporate practice. He joins the firm from Herbert Smith Freehills in Hong Kong.

    He advises on corporate and securities transactions including IPOs, debt offerings, private equity, M&A, and compliance matters. He represents issuers of securities as well as investors, underwriters and placement agents for both public and private offerings.

    Wu has particular experience advising on initial public offerings, follow-on offerings in Hong Kong and U.S. capital markets, as well as debt offering transactions including investment-grade and high-yield bonds, convertible and exchangeable bonds, and medium-term note programs. He also brings in-depth industry knowledge to the table, having advised clients on dozens of corporate transactions in various sectors, including healthcare and life sciences, technology, and consumer goods, among others.

    A native Mandarin speaker, Wu is also fluent in Cantonese and English having lived and worked in Shanghai, New York, and Hong Kong.

    George Wu’s arrival closely follows that of capital markets partner Arthur Tso who joined the Hong Kong office in March 2021. Over the past couple of years, DLA Piper has welcomed several new partners to its Asia Corporate practice including Philip Lee and David Kuo in Singapore, and Samata Masagee in Bangkok.

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  • Citi Hires for New Digital Assets Unit

    Citi Hires for New Digital Assets Unit

    Talent hired to work on Citi’s crypto division will be based in Singapore, in addition to London, New York, and Tel Aviv.

    Citi has appointed Puneet Singhvi to the bank’s ICG Business Development team on 1 December as the ICG head of digital assets, reporting to Emily Turner, head of business development, with a matrix reporting line to Stuart Riley, global head of ICG, according to an internal memo seen.

    Singhvi joins the team from global markets, where he was most recently the head of the blockchain and digital assets. He has also led teams across sales, business development, and product in global markets and securities services and treasury and trade solutions (TTS).

    Shobhit Maini and Vasant Viswanathan will be co-heads of Blockchain and Digital Assets for Global Markets, reporting to Biswarup Chatterjee with a matrix report to Singhvi. The TTS Head of Digital Assets and the Securities Services Digital Asset lead will also matrix report to Singhvi, the memo said.

    The bank will also add approximately 100 roles across its Institutional Clients Group (ICG) and associated functions to bolster its expertise in blockchain, including digital assets and digital currencies.

    Citi said the locations in which it is hiring for the digital assets team is strategic for its ICG business and technology, and represent talent hubs for blockchain and digital asset expertise.

    We are focused on assessing the needs of our clients in the digital asset space; prior to offering any products and services, we are studying these markets, as well as the evolving regulatory landscape and associated risks in order to meet our own regulatory frameworks and supervisory expectations.

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  • Personal deposits down across banking sector

    Personal deposits down across banking sector

    Personal bank deposits were nearly VND5,292 trillion (some $230 billion) by late September, down roughly VND1.5 trillion against late August, according to the central bank.

    Since July, monthly bank deposits fell against previous months, the State Bank of Vietnam stated, noting deposits in August decreased by some VND1 trillion against July.

    From early January to late September, personal deposits hit VND150 trillion, a year-on-year decline of some 50 percent.

    Lower savings interest rates and more attractive stock market and cryptocurrency channels were blamed for falling deposits.

    Total trading value on Vietnam’s HSX, HNX and UPCoM stock markets reached a record high of VND56.337 trillion on Nov. 19, up from the previous record of VND52.145 trillion on Nov. 3.

    According to a survey conducted among over 70,000 people by VnExpress on July 22, real estate was the most popular investment channel (32 percent), ranking above gold and savings (7-10 percent).

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  • China’s Anti-Monopoly Crackdown Hits Banking Sector

    China’s Anti-Monopoly Crackdown Hits Banking Sector

    Chinese regulators extend their antitrust crackdown to the banking sector with a fine against shareholders of a virtual lender.

    The shareholders of Chinese virtual lender AliBank – China Citic Bank (70 percent) and a Baidu unit called Fujian Baidu Bo Rui Netcom (30 percent) – have been fined 500,000 yuan ($78,280) over a violation of the country’s anti-monopoly law, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

    SAMR issued a fine over the failure to report the AiBank joint venture ahead of its formation in 2015.

    The penalty was part of a broader batch of more than 40 cases with fines issued to other tech firms outside of the banking sector such as JD.com, Tencent, Baidu, ByteDance, and Alibaba.

    AiBank is an artificial intelligence-focused lender that leverages related capabilities from search engine giant Baidu.

    It is one of five licensed digital banks in China and the only one with a state-backed shareholder in Citic.

    According to research by McKinsey released in January, Chinese digital banks own roughly 5 percent of the country’s 5 trillion yuan unsecured consumer loan market and over 7 percent of the SME loan market.

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  • UBS Opens Major New Asian Office

    UBS Opens Major New Asian Office

    The Swiss banking giant’s top two were on hand to open a new office in Singapore – its largest in the wider region.

    Zurich-based UBS officially opened its Singapore office at 9 Penang Road, in a ceremony that featured Chairman Axel Weber, CEO Ralph Hamers, and Asia-Pacific boss Edmund Koh, it said in a statement. The 400,000 square feet of prime property will be the Swiss bank’s largest office in the region.

    Singapore’s finance minister Lawrence Wong was on hand, lauding UBS’ efforts in the city-state with regards to talent development in a LinkedIn post. Fabrice Filliez, Swiss ambassador in Singapore, and Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg also attended.

    For UBS, which employs more than 3,000 people in the city-state, the office represents a larger, campus-style, facility. The Swiss wealth manager has also settled into Singapore’s Command House, a historical landmark wher

    UBS’ plans to move out of the financial district into Penang Road raised eyebrows at the time because the latter is not a typical headquarter location for a major bank. However, Penang Road is a stone’s throw from the prime Orchard Road shopping belt and the location offers good connectivity.

    The bank launched two new initiatives to mark the launch: Techconnect SEA, an ecosystem that aims to connect and grow Southeast Asia’s next generation of unicorns, and an app called Circle One which will connect investors to ideas on a global ecosystem.

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  • LGT Opens Private Banking Office in Japan

    LGT Opens Private Banking Office in Japan

    Liechtenstein-headquartered LGT opened a new wealth management office in Tokyo as part of its efforts to capture opportunities in Japan’s private banking market.

    Following regulatory approvals, LGT has opened a new office in the Okura Prestige Tower located in Tokyo’s business district, according to a statement.

    The unit will aim to provide bespoke wealth management solutions to clients in Japan with a local team made up of over 35 experienced professionals.

    Earlier this year, 25-year industry veteran Yoshitaka Nagakura was named market head for Japan and will now be appointed as chairman and chief executive for LGT’s Japan private banking unit, reporting directly to APAC private banking CEO Dr. Henri Leimer.

    He joined from Credit Suisse where around two dozen other private bankers were reportedly also in the process of shifting over to LGT in Japan.

    We are delighted to be expanding our Asia Pacific footprint with the opening of our Tokyo office, said LGT chairman H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein in the statement. We have a deep commitment to responsible investing and we see tremendous opportunities to share LGT’s experience in long-term, sustainable investments and wealth management with Japanese clients.

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  • HSBC Reshuffles Commercial Bank

    HSBC Reshuffles Commercial Bank

    HSBC has reshuffled senior management at its commercial banking arm in Asia and the U.K. Amanda Murphy and Frank Fang have been named co-heads of the APAC commercial banking business, according to a statement, reporting to global commercial banking chief executive Barry O’Byrne.

    The current head of commercial banking for HSBC U.K., Murphy will relocate to Singapore to become head of commercial banking, South and Southeast Asia to oversee the local commercial banking franchises in India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and international markets.

    Frank Fang will maintain his role as head of commercial banking, Hong Kong and Macau.

    Murphy and Fang will also serve on the global and APAC commercial banking executive committees.

    Succeeding Murphy’s role as head of commercial banking for HSBC U.K. is Stuart Tait, subject to regulatory approval, who led the APAC commercial banking franchise since 2016.

    I would like to thank Tait for growing our business in Asia Pacific over the last five years – his customer-centricity will be equally instrumental in his new role, O’Byrne said.

    Focusing on Asia for growth, investment and capital deployment is a strategic priority for our global business. We aim to grow our market share in the Greater Bay Area, India and Southeast Asia, expanding our customer base and digitizing at scale to help our clients and business to capture global opportunities.

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  • DBS Exec to Lead Carbon Credits Exchange

    DBS Exec to Lead Carbon Credits Exchange

    He was most recently DBS’ group chief sustainability officer, responsible for developing the bank’s sustainability framework and driving sustainability initiatives.

    Climate Impact X (CIX) has announced the appointment of Mikkel Larsen as chief executive officer, effective immediately, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

    Larsen has been interim CEO of the platform, a joint venture between DBS Bank, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Standard Chartered, and Temasek, since May 2021.

    Before his nine years at DBS, Larsen spent over seven years at UBS, leaving as CFO of Asia-Pacific, and previously held roles at Citibank in London, and KPMG.

    In his new role, Larsen will oversee all day-to-day operations for CIX, including collaborating with its ecosystem of technology partners to build up its Project Marketplace and Exchange platforms as well as curating a pipeline of high-quality carbon credit projects to feature on its platforms. He will also drive the company’s culture, values, and behavior while building up a high-performing team passionate about catalyzing scalable sustainable solutions.

    The carbon market is going through a transition. We have a unique opportunity to establish a trusted market that can both help preserve the crucially important existing carbon sinks whilst developing new ones, Larsen said in the announcement.

    CIX said it completed a pilot auction in October of a curated portfolio of high-quality carbon credits, where it successfully cleared 170,000 tonnes of carbon credits from eight recognized NCS projects spanning across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

  • OneDegree Offers Crypto-Linked Insurance

    OneDegree Offers Crypto-Linked Insurance

    Hong Kong-based OneDegree has launched a new insurance solution that provides digital asset protection for cryptocurrencies.

    Digital insurer OneDegree has partnered with crypto exchange Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange (HKbitEX) to offer protection for digital currencies, according to a statement.

    In its bid to strengthen the exchange’s safety and security for institutional investors, OneDegree will offer up to $100 million in coverage to HKbitEX to cover covering losses from damage, hacking, and theft.

    In addition to private key loss, OneDegree will also cover misappropriation due to physical damage to wallets caused by natural events; cybersecurity threats and employee theft.

    We have witnessed a very strong inbound demand for insurance to protect against threats to digital assets, said OneDegree co-founder Alvin Kwock.

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  • Dubai Sued Over PE Firm Audit in Dubai

    Dubai Sued Over PE Firm Audit in Dubai

    KPMG is being sued over its role in the insolvency of Dubai private equity firm Abraaj Group which claims the big four accounting company failed to maintain independence and breached its duty of care.

    KPMG was sued for at least $600 million by two units of Abraaj now in liquidation, according to a report citing court documents filed earlier this month.

    The claimants allege that KPMG accountants – Abraaj’s auditor for six years – failed to maintain independence and an appropriate attitude of professional skepticism and breached their duty of care when auditing the private equity firm.

    Irregularities relating to the firm’s financial statements would have been identified sooner had KPMG and its local Lower Gulf subsidiary complied with their duties, the claimants added.

    In 2018, Abraaj collapsed into insolvency after being accused of misusing investor funds in the private equity firm which had $14 billion in assets under management at its peak.

    Founder and chief executive Arif Naqvi allegedly stole more than $250 million, according to U.S. prosecutors, though he denies any wrongdoing.

    Naqvi has been under house arrest in London and faces a whopping maximum sentence of up to 291 years if extradited to the U.S. and convicted.

    This marks yet another scandal for the Big Four accounting firm this year after the Malaysian government filed a lawsuit seeking more than $5.6 billion from 44 KPMG Malaysia partners in July for their role in auditing state investment fund 1MDB.

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