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Tag: Finance

  • SFC Fines UBS Over Regulatory Breaches

    SFC Fines UBS Over Regulatory Breaches

    Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission reprimanded and fined UBS over regulatory breaches covering various areas including transparency client suitability.

    The SFC fined UBS AG and UBS Securities Asia Limited HK$9.8 million ($1.26 million) and $1.75 million, respectively, over various regulatory breaches, according to a statement.

    The issues covered areas ranging from lacking disclosures to client suitability issues.

    The SFC’s probe found that UBS failed to make proper disclosure of its financial interest in some Hong Kong-listed companies covers in its research reports for 14 years, between May 2004 and May 2018.

    The failure was caused by multiple data feed logic errors in a legacy data source used by UBS for tracking its shareholding positions, the securities regulator said.

    The SFC also found that UBS failed to fulfill various processes across client suitability and sales.

    It said the Swiss bank, in various time periods, failed to obtain valid standing authorities from clients who were not qualified as professional investors; record client order instructions; fully assess client derivatives knowledge; and disclose the stop loss event feature in a structured note.

    The SFC considers that UBS failed to act with due skill and care and put in place adequate systems and controls to ensure compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements,» the regulator said in the statement.

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  • HSBC Boosts First-Year Banker Pay

    HSBC Boosts First-Year Banker Pay

    HSBC is reportedly the latest global bank to join the Wall Street trend of increasing salaries for junior executives.

    Salaries of first-year analysts at HSBC’s investment bank will increase from $85,00 to $100,000, according to a report citing unnamed sources.

    The bank introduced pay rises for existing analysts and associates in May.

    London-headquartered HSBC joins a number of global financial institutions increasing wages to compete for investment banking talent including UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

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  • Apple working on exclusive Apple services promotions for Apple Card users in the US

    Apple working on exclusive Apple services promotions for Apple Card users in the US

    Apple has now set up a new way of promoting its services to Apple Card owners in the US. The company has now started giving users promotions of services in the Wallet app, in a special section of the app with special offers.

    The new feature was spotted by Mark Gurman on iOS 15 and the Wallet app. Currently, the promotion available was regarding a News+ offer; however, the link does not lead anywhere so it is possible it is still in development.

    It seems the new feature is not only available to iOS 15 but it is also shown to Apple Card users in the US with iOS 14.

    Until now, Apple Card users could benefit from exclusive benefits, but usually, these were related to other stores or services. Now, Cupertino is more aggressively promoting Apple News+ or possibly other Apple subscriptions in the future.

    Apple News+ is a subscription for the News app, that allows you to read newspapers and magazine articles ad-free. The price of the subscription is $9.99 a month, giving you access to more than 300 titles, online and offline browsing, and even News+ audio stories for the week’s best articles.

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  • DBS Registers Record First-Half Profits

    DBS Registers Record First-Half Profits

    DBS maintained profit momentum in the second quarter, resulting in all-time high performance for the first half.

    DBS registered a record-high profit of S$3.71 billion ($2.75 billion), according to the latest results, marking 54 percent year-on-year growth.

    Total income slipped slightly by 4 percent to S$7.44 billion and expenses inched 3 percent higher to S$3.13 billion but allowances for credit and other losses fell by 95 percent to S$89 million.

    The bank also declared a dividend of S$0.33 per share for the second quarter, bringing the first-half dividend to S$0.51 per share.

    DBS’ strong performance in the first half was also driven by all-time high figures across the board including fee income (20 percent increase to S$1.82 billion), fixed income fees and trading income.

    The second quarter alone was also a strong showing with S$868 million in fee income – the second-highest on record behind the last quarter – resulting in a net profit of S$1.7 billion, a 37 percent increase.

    «We achieved an exceptional first half with the first and second quarters the two highest on record,» said DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta. «Business momentum and asset quality have both been better than expected as the economic recovery from the pandemic takes hold. While risks remain, our pipeline remains healthy and we expect business momentum to be sustained in the coming quarters.»

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  • UOB Rides Economic Recovery

    UOB Rides Economic Recovery

    The bank posted a record quarterly wholesale banking income of $848 million, and a record AUM in wealth management in the first half of 2021.

    UOB posted second-quarter earnings of S$1 billion ($740 million), unchanged from the first quarter, which brought first-half earnings of S$2 billion, according to financial statements released on Wednesday.

    Net profit was 29 percent higher in the first half of the year compared to 2020, driven by strong business momentum and lower credit allowance, and 48 percent higher than the second half of 2020, supported by the group’s strong customer franchise and lower credit allowance, UOB said.

    Core Business Growth

    The bank noted healthy contributions across its core businesses, with income growing 5 percent to S$4.9 billion, fee income growing 28 percent to S$1.2 billion, and loans growing 6 percent to S$299 billion.

    Cross-border income, which contributed to 29 percent of wholesale banking income, grew by 5 percent, while a recovery in market sentiment saw assets under management growing by 7 percent to S$137 billion, UOB said.

    Total expenses remained stable at S$2.15 billion and cost-to-income ratio for the year improved from 45.6 percent to 43.8 percent. The bank also reduced its allowances to S$383 million, from S$682 million a year ago, noting that asset quality remains within expectations, with strong reserve coverage from the proactive general allowance taken in last year. Total credit costs on loans eased to 24 basis points.

    In a media briefing on Wednesday morning, UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong said the bank is positive about its outlook and expects profits to continue to rebound, backed by strong single-digit growth in loans and double-digit growth in non-interest income. It also expects growth in Asean markets to improve as vaccination rates increase, which will further boost its performance.

    The past quarter, the bank launched products like digital wealth manger SimpleInvest, which Wee said has received an «overwhelmingly positive response.» It is also working on distributed ledger and asset tokenization initiatives like digital bond issuance on Marketnode, and collaborating on central bank digital currencies.

    The bank also expressed an interest in potentially acquiring Citi’s retail assets in the Asia Pacific region, to strengthen its regional franchise.

    With the lifting of MAS restrictions, UOB is resuming its dividend payout ratio of 50 percent, which translates to 60 cents per ordinary share.

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  • OCBC Profits Surge from Reduced Allowance

    OCBC Profits Surge from Reduced Allowance

    OCBC’s net profit for the second quarter surged due to an economic recovery that enabled substantially reduced allowances.

    OCBC’s posted a net profit of S$1.16 billion ($860 million) in the second quarter, according to its latest results, marking a 59 percent surge from S$730 million in the same period last year.

    The bank’s quarterly performance was in line with the S$1.14 billion consensus forecast from a Bloomberg survey of five analysts.

    OCBC registered S$2.66 billion of net profit in the first half, up 86 percent year-on-year.

    Like many other peers in the banking industry, OCBC has benefitted from an economic recovery that has enabled a reduction of reserves linked to bad assets.

    It posted S$393 million in total allowances compared to S$1.41 billion last year.

    The reduction was driven in no small part by lower allowances for impaired assets (from S$793 million to S$283 million) driven last year largely by exposures to «a number of corporate customers in the oil trading and offshore support vessels sectors».

    In addition to reduced allowances, the bank also benefitted from strong wealth management income which grew 25 percent in the first half to S$2.14 billion which represents 39 perfect of OCBC Group’s total income.

    OCBC’s private banking arm, Bank of Singapore, saw assets under management grow 11 percent to S$169 billion, driven by continued net new money inflows and positive market valuations.

    OCBC also declared a dividend of 25 Singapore cents per share compared to 15.9 Singapore cents a year ago.

    At a ratio of 42 percent, this marks the first dividend payout since the Monetary Authority of Singapore lifted its cap on locally incorporated banks and financial firms in the city-state, originally set at 50 percent of 2019’s dividends per share.

    While the long-term trajectory of global economic recovery is positive, we remain watchful on the current operating environment in view of the recent virus resurgence and heightened safety measures in our key markets,» said OCBC group chief executive Helen Wong. We stay firmly committed to supporting our customers during this difficult period.

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  • Deutsche Bank Stalwart Decamps for State Street

    Deutsche Bank Stalwart Decamps for State Street

    State Street hires a Deutsche Bank executive as head of product management in the Asia Pacific region, according to a statement.

    Jeslyn Tan joins the firm after 22 years at Deutsche Bank. She will be responsible for developing and driving an end-to-end product strategy for the Asia Pacific region.

    Based in Singapore, Tan reports globally to Brenda Lyons, global head of asset servicing product, and regionally to Mostapha Tahiri, chief executive officer for Asia Pacific.

    Tan brings 26 years of deep experience in product management in Asia Pacific, and was most recently Deutsche Bank’s global head of product management, and has held numerous senior roles at the German lender during her tenure.

    We are well-positioned to better serve our clients by responding accurately and offering the right products and services to clients in the rapidly changing environment in the region, Tahiri said in the statement.

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  • StanChart Nabs HSBC Private Banker

    StanChart Nabs HSBC Private Banker

    Standard Chartered Private Bank has expanded its Southeast Asia unit with the addition of a relationship manager from rival HSBC.

    Nipud Sud joins Standard Chartered Private Bank as an executive director and relationship manager, according to a note, effective August 2.

    Based in Singapore, Sud reports to senior client partner Suresh Nair who joined the bank in January this year and reports to private banking team lead of Singapore and Malaysia Adeline Chow.

    Sud has 18 years of banking experience, including ten in private banking with Citi, J.P. Morgan and, most recently, HSBC covering ASEAN and Hong Kong clients.

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  • StanChart Profits Rise from Improved Loan Impairments

    StanChart Profits Rise from Improved Loan Impairments

    Pre-tax profit at Standard Chartered rose in the first half and beat analyst estimates, resulting in the resumption of interim dividend payments.

    Standard Chartered registered $2.68 billion in pre-tax profit, according to its latest first-half results, marking a 37 percent increase compared to $1.95 billion in the same period last year.

    The bank’s $2.55 billion in statutory pre-tax profit beat its compailed average analyst estimate of $2.23 billion.

    Despite lower income (5 percent decrease) and higher operating expenses, Standard Chartered still saw profits rise due to improved loan impairments fuelled by the economic recovery.

    The bank posted a net release of $47 million in credit impairments – including a net release of $67 million in the second quarter – marking a $1.61 billion decrease year-on-year.

    The Asia-focused British lender also announced the resumption of interim dividend payments of $94 million – or 3 cents per share – alongside a $250 million share buyback.

    I am encouraged by our positive performance in the first half of 2021 despite an uneven recovery from Covid-19,» said Standard Chartered group chief executive Bill Winters.

    We are more confident in achieving our return on tangible equity targets and we are pleased to announce today an additional share buy-back program together with the resumption of our interim dividend payment.

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  • Citi Posts All-Time High in APAC Net New Assets

    Citi Posts All-Time High in APAC Net New Assets

    Citi’s wealth management business in Asia Pacific registered a record-high in net new assets during the first half.

    Citi’s newly merged wealth management unit – Citi Global Wealth (CGW) – attracted nearly $15 billion in net new money across Asia Pacific, according to a statement, mostly from its wealth hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and UAE.

    This included $8 billion from the second quarter with assets under management growing 21 percent year-on-year.

    Citi posted $6.19 billion of net income in the second quarter – a nearly six-fold increase compared to the same period last year.

    Asset growth was supported by ongoing expansion at CGW which includes plans to add an extra 2,300 staff – including 1,100 relationship managers and private bankers – in order to add $150 billion in total client assets by 2025.

    Year-to-date, the American bank has already added «several hundred wealth professionals» in APAC, the statement added.

    «We are capturing market share as Asian clients increasingly require portfolio advice, design and allocation geared toward diversification of asset types and geographic exposures,» said Citi’s APAC chief executive Peter Babej. «As the world’s most global bank, with broad-based expertise across investment products, we are strongly positioned and fully committed to serving these needs.»

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  • Bank of China to Open Geneva Branch

    Bank of China to Open Geneva Branch

    Bank of China, the country’s most globalized bank, is giving Geneva a second chance and opening a branch there again, but this time the focus will be different.

    Bank of China Geneva Branch was registered on the Commercial Register on June 15 and listed as an authorized bank by Swiss financial regulator Finma on July 9, the bank said in a press release Monday.

    Bank of China is the most globalized and integrated Chinese bank. The bank is ranked among the «Fortune Global 500» for 31 consecutive years and among the global systemically important banks for nine consecutive years. Its overseas service network covers 62 countries and regions, the press release said.

    It added that with the establishment of its bank in Switzerland, the Bank of China would work to build a bridge for Sino-Swiss trade and investment, providing comprehensive trade finance products and commodity trade financial services to Swiss enterprises doing business with China and Chinese enterprises in Switzerland.

    The bank previously opened a branch in Geneva in 2008 and intended to operate a classic wealth management model. It was unsuccessful and closed eight years ago, with the business sold to Julius Bär. The new branch’s focus, by contrast, will be on corporate clients. Bank of China employs around 300,000 people globally.

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  • DBS Appoints Global Head of Transactions Services

    DBS Appoints Global Head of Transactions Services

    DBS has appointed a group head of global transaction services, succeeding John Laurens who will be retiring.

    Lim Soon Chong has been named to the role, according to a statement, effective August 1 this year.

    Laurens, who first joined DBS in 2014, will remain as a senior adviser to support the transition until December 31.

    Lim is currently group head of investment products and advisory for DBS’ consumer banking and wealth management unit as well as group head of product management for global transactions services. Ex-group head of trade product management and 20-year banking veteran Sriram Muthukrishnan will take over Lim’s latter role.

    Lim joined DBS in 2006 and has taken on various senior roles across the bank’s consumer, wealth, corporate treasury, and risk management divisions. He will maintain his role as head of digital for DBS’ institutional banking group.

    We remain committed to efforts to rotate our senior leaders around different functions and markets to hone their business acumen and technical skill sets to ensure they are well equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow, Lim said.

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  • Nearly Half of Singaporeans Own Cryptocurrency

    Nearly Half of Singaporeans Own Cryptocurrency

    Despite market volatility and regulatory pressures, the outlook for crypto adoption remains positive especially in Singapore where nearly half of its residents own the digital asset class, according to a survey.

    43 percent of Singaporeans own cryptocurrency, according to a survey by Independent Reserve, a digital set exchange with operations in the city-state since 2020. And adoption is expected to continue to rise with 46 percent of respondents plan to buy crypto in the next 12 months.

    Naturally, awareness has been high in Singapore with 93 percent claiming they have knowledge of cryptocurrencies and 90 percent claiming they heard of bitcoin.

    Unsurprisingly, younger individuals have led adoption rates at 66 percent for those aged 26 to 45 compared to 31 percent cumulatively for all other age groups.

    The same age group was also twice as likely to buy crypto in the next 12 months at 61 percent.

    Crypto adoption is expected to increase in Singapore with 59 percent of Singaporeans believing it will reach mass-scale adoption and 70 percent for those under the age of 45.

    The price outlook is also positive with half of the respondents expecting bitcoin’s value to rise to S$50,000 by 2030. 13 percent of those under 45 forecast bitcoin’s price to reach S$250,000 by the same year. The data is based on a survey of 1,000 Singaporeans conducted by Independent Reserve.

    Independent Reserve also launched its inaugural Cryptocurrency Index for Singapore and scored it at 63 out of 100 using criteria based on awareness, adoption, trust and confidence.

    With digital currency gaining momentum worldwide, Singapore continues to emerge as a key hub in Asia due to its robust and well-regulated financial markets infrastructure and openness to new technologies,» said Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny.

    The strong awareness and adoption of crypto among Singaporeans in the survey findings are probably a natural reflection of the country’s progressiveness and commitment to preparing for the future.

  • UBS and Credit Suisse’s Intertwined Destinies

    UBS and Credit Suisse’s Intertwined Destinies

    It would be premature to draw any conclusions from the large gap that has opened up between UBS and Credit Suisse. Doing so has often proved wrong in the past.

    Credit Suisse will publish second-quarter results this Thursday. It won’t be easy for the bank to exceed UBS’s strong showing, particularly given it still faces enormous problems from the Greensill Capital and Archegos Capital Management losses. Even so, it will be interesting to see how Credit Suisse chief executive Thomas Gottstein takes advantage of the very positive current environment in finance.

    About thirty years ago it wasn’t unusual for both the major banks to coordinate the release of their results. It was a type of good old-fashioned Swiss consensus. One really did want to avoid large discrepancies if possible. The profits of the major banks mirrored each other. And as part of all that, each would advise their (domestic) competitors how much-hidden reserves were being used.

    At the start of the 1990s, increased competition came into play. The Swiss banking cartel was dissolved as banking was liberalized globally and competition law would ban any agreement like that now. In any case, it would be a gargantuan task to balance out the performance between the two this quarter given the disparity between them is so large.

    On one side you have Credit Suisse which keeps getting buffeted by turbulence since former chief executive Tidjane Thiam left. On the other, you have a UBS performing better than it has in years, as the numbers last week clearly show. In short, it would be extremely hard to compare them side by side now.

    But it would be premature to draw conclusions from the conditions at each bank. And any desire to see it last for a prolonged length of time also misses the point.

    Often, such conclusions have turned out to be wrong. UBS and Credit Suisse have closely intertwined destinies and they seem to change positions almost with the regularity of a Swiss watch. One is on top for a while only to then be replaced by the other for another while. History shows that pattern repeating itself over and over.

    Exactly because both banks are so important for Swiss finance, and because their ability to innovate is still pre-dominant, there is little use painting a dire picture of their future or expressing any kind of schadenfreude when one of them is in trouble. The recent events at Credit Suisse have just – again – shown what a lack of responsibility at all levels of a bank can do together with any reasoned, long-term understanding of the banking profession.

    At the end of the day, UBS and Credit Suisse have a long-term responsibility to follow the fundamental rules and laws of the banking business for the Swiss economy and the country’s prosperity in a way that allows them to exercise their strengths, particularly in an international context.

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  • Singapore Wealth Fund Posts Best Performance Since 2015

    Singapore Wealth Fund Posts Best Performance Since 2015

    Strong asset performance amid the pandemic and exits through initial public offerings by portfolio companies boosted the fund’s performance.

    GIC, whose investment performance is measured using a rolling 20-year real rate of return, posted an annualized USD nominal rate of return of 6.8 percent for the period that ended 31 March 2021, or 4.3 percent accounting for inflation, it said in the announcement. In 2015, it recorded a return of 4.9 percent.

    Asia excluding Japan took up 26 percent of GIC’s portfolio, up from 19 percent a year earlier, while emerging markets comprised 17 percent, up from 15 percent. At the same time, its Japan exposure fell to 8 percent, from 13 percent the year before, according to its annual report. Its largest region by exposure continued to be the U.S., at 34 percent. The fund manages in excess of $100 billion in assets, though exact figures are not available.

    GIC said it is cautious about the macro outlook in the long term, given rising inflation, elevated asset valuations, more fragile fundamentals in the global economy and less policy room.

    Chow Kiat, GIC chief executive officer, said GIC is positive on the micro prospects, given new areas of growth that are driven by increasing emphasis on sustainability, accelerating technological transformation, and growing needs for businesses to reconfigure their supply chain.

    Earlier this year, GIC opened its 11th office globally in Sydney, Australia, saying it would be seeking investment opportunities in the country.

    The fund has also been loading up on crypto assets of late. So far this year, GIC has taken stakes in U.S. based digital asset bank Anchorage; BC Group, the parent company of regulated crypto exchange OSL; and blockchain analysis company Chainalysis.

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