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Tag: Finance

  • JPMorgan South & Southeast Asia CEO to retire

    JPMorgan South & Southeast Asia CEO to retire

    The Chairman and CEO of South & Southeast Asia for JPMorgan, Kalpana Morparia is reportedly planning on stepping down from her role in Q1 2021.

    Morparia first joined the firm in 2008, and in addition to her regional roles acts as the Senior Country Officer for JPMorgan in India, based in Mumbai. Speaking of the offer to join the firm, Morparia said: “Out of the blue, I received this offer from JPMorgan. This was again one of the great turns of fate that I joined a great organization like JPMorgan. Despite all the negative clouds you see today in the country, I believe in the great growth story of India. JPMorgan is extremely focused on serving its clients in India.

    Prior to joining the American firm, she was affiliated with ICICI Bank, an Indian multinational banking and financial services company, for over three decades.

    She first joined ICICI in 1975, beginning in the bank’s legal department, as she pursued a Law degree following her science-focused studies. In 1991, Morparia traveled to the USA to study capital markets at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Subsequently, she enacted the listing of ICICI Bank in 1999 on the New York Stock Exchange and is credited with the 2002 merger of ICICI Bank and ICICI.

    Morparia will be succeeded by Madhav Kalyan as Senior Country Officer for JPMorgan India, who currently serves as Managing Director and CEO for the India operation, entering the role in Q4 2009, according to his LinkedIn.

    Leo Puri is reportedly going to be appointed as Chairman of South & Southeast Asia, joining JPMorgan in Q1 2021, and Murli Maiya will take up the reins as CEO. Both will report to JPMorgan’s CEO for Asia Pacific, Filippo Gori.

    In a statement, JPMorgan said: “Kalpana Morparia, Chairman, South and Southeast Asia, informed the firm of her desire to retire. She has agreed to stay with the firm until Q1 2021, and help lead the firm’s efforts in South and Southeast Asia as we and our clients adapt to the new economic and work environment.”

    “Leo is a very senior and experienced finance professional who will bring a wealth of industry knowledge and depth of relationships. He will be dedicated to covering our critical external stakeholders, including key clients, regulators and industry bodies,” the company statement continued.

  • UBS Nabs Top Credit Suisse Private Banker

    UBS Nabs Top Credit Suisse Private Banker

    Wealth manager UBS is poaching the banker instrumental in setting up Credit Suisse’s entrepreneur’s bank. He is the first prominent defector to join Iqbal Khan at UBS.

    UBS is enlisting Remi Mennesson to set up a financing team in a bid to provide better and faster service for its wealthiest clients, according to a memo. Mennesson is a discreet Swiss banking heavyweight and 20-year veteran of Credit Suisse, where he was a key ally of top private banker Iqbal Khan.

    At Credit Suisse, Mennesson led a strategic transactions unit that catered financing solutions to ultra-high net worth clients, generally viewed as those with more than $30 million in bankable assets. Khan and his co-head Tom Naratil have renewed emphasis on the segment by carving it out into a smaller group in January.

    Mennesson, a managing director at Credit Suisse, will join UBS in November. He will report to four co-presidents: investment bank co-bosses Rob Karofsky and Piero Novelli as well as Khan and Naratil. A spokesman for UBS confirmed the contents of the memo, which was first reported by Reuters overnight.

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  • HSBC Digital Payment User Growth Surges

    HSBC Digital Payment User Growth Surges

    HSBC’s PayMe – Hong Kong’s largest e-wallet operator – reached 2 million users, fuelled in part by the city’s love for card and tile games.

    The 2 million users represented a 25 percent year-on-year increase as transactions in the broader e-wallet payment activity, run by 10 operators, tripled due to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s faster payment systems (FPS).

    According to HSBC’s managing director and head of PayMe Kerry Wong Chu Po-yin, the accelerated growth was driven by the ongoing pandemic and increasing bill settlements.

    We have seen above-average growth in registration and more active usage of PayMe over these few months of Covid-19 pandemic,” Wong said in an SCMP report. The increase is seen in settling of bills, including those related to online social games such as mahjong and poker.

    The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused significantly accelerated digital adoption in Asia across banks and client segments. It took PayMe 17 months to acquire its first million users but around eight months to achieve the second million.

    Need for digital access aside, the coronavirus pandemic has created a bankconstant demand for healthcare goods – some merchants with 15,000 to 40,000 transactions in a single day involving surgical face masks, according to Wong.

    «Our payment platform also helps start-ups and other businesses to accept payment easily,» she said. «Looking ahead, we will line up more big companies [such as utility providers].»

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  • HSBC Ordered to Restart and Deepen Overhaul

    HSBC Ordered to Restart and Deepen Overhaul

    The economically crippling coronavirus pandemic has driven HSBC’s board to push the British lender not only to restart the original overhaul strategy but also further deepen cost cuts.

    The ongoing health crisis has prompted the board to review the HSBC’s recent reorganization, according to a «Financial Times» report citing unnamed sources from the bank, and consider more drastic measures.

    The bank has been undergoing restructuring changes while concurrently attempting to retain most jobs. After announcing its plan to cut 35,000 jobs, $4.5 billion in costs and $100 billion in risk-weighted assets, HSBC announced a pause most of the job cuts while proceeding with its original plan «wherever possible»

    Intensified restructuring could potentially include more job cuts or a possible sale of its U.S. business, its retail network in France and operations in smaller non-strategic markets, the report added.

    A spokesperson for HSBC declined to comment on the report.

    HSBC has been continuously facing a stampede of challenges after finally confirming its permanent chief executive Noel Quinn in March this year. Since then, the London-headquartered bank has faced social unrest in Hong Kong, a temporary pause to its plans to cut 35,000 jobs, a dividend cancellation fiasco and now a greater overhaul driven by the pandemic.

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  • HSBC Appoints Private Banking Product Head

    HSBC Appoints Private Banking Product Head

    HSBC Private Banking named a new global head of products, investment, and collaboration based in Hong Kong.

    Lavanya Chari joins from Deutsche Bank in Singapore where she was last its global head of products and solutions for private banking.

    According to an HSBC statement, Chari will lead HSBC’s product strategy serving both private banking and personal banking client needs, effective July 20. Chari will report to Annabel Spring, head of Customers and products for the wealth and personal banking unit as well as the CEO of HSBC Private Banking.

    Chari joined Deutsche Bank in 2002 and had since held various senior roles across its wealth amendment and global markets business. Previously, she also ran other businesses such as Asia structured investment solutions, global commodities asset structuring globally, and rates asset structuring for Europe.

    Chari will be charged to cover a full continuum of clients across HSBC’s banking segments from personal banking all the way to family offices, according to a recent comment by regional head of wealth and personal banking Greg Hinston, who placed extra emphasis on the latter segment.

    The newly merged unit, with a combined $1.4 trillion in assets, will look to target markets where it has scale – Britain, Hong Kong, and Mexico – with a focus on mortgages, wealth, and issuance products, and unsecured lending.

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  • Maybank Posts Q1 Profit Growth

    Maybank Posts Q1 Profit Growth

    The bank’s improved quarterly performance was the result of the sale of some liquid assets and fixed income instruments, which raised net fee-based income.

    Malaysia’s largest lender recorded a profit of RM2.05 billion ($470 million) for the first quarter of the year, an increase of RM240.4 million or 13.3 percent year-on-year, according to financial results released on Thursday.

    However, the bank’s group president and chief executive Abdul Farid Alias said the results do not reflect expectations for the rest of the year, as the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was not yet known.

    The full effects of rate cuts across key markets will show in 2Q income, with net interest margin expected to compress 15bps in the current rate environment, Maybank said in its outlook for 2020.

    Given the strong trading income and heightened risk going forward, the bank is making additional provisions of about RM600 million for loan losses, RM400 million for forward-looking assessment based on weakening macro-economic factors, and RM200 million for retail portfolio slippage.

    Maybank said its priority was to help support the domestic economies of its home markets and to work with affected borrowers to ensure viable solutions that support employment and prevent business failures in the near term.

    In Singapore, its profit before taxation was S$77.3 million, an improvement of more than 100 percent from the same period a year before, which recorded a loss before taxation of S$79.7 million, which was due to higher loan loss allowances.

    Net fund based income was 11.8 percent lower on-year at S$170.4 million, attributed to margin compression, while fee-based income grew 26.1 percent on-year, led by wealth management and investment gains. At the same time, overhead expenses increased by 7.5 percent due to higher personnel and information technology costs.

  • HSBC Zones in on Family Offices in Asia

    HSBC Zones in on Family Offices in Asia

    The U.K.-headquartered bank will place a much greater focus on the family office segment in Asia following the new merger of its wealth unit.

    Over the next three years, HSBC will look to grow client assets in the unit at a double-digit rate, according to a report. The recent merger of the private banking and retail wealth business formed a unit that now manages around $1.3 trillion in assets globally including nearly half from Asia.

    And of the broader market, HSBC will look to add greater focus on wealthier clients, especially those with sufficient assets to oversee via a family office.

    With the combination, there is a big, big focus on family offices going forward,» said Greg Hingston, recently appointed regional head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC. «And it all fits within that focus around increasing penetration into the high and ultra-high net worth segments.

    In addition to segment focus, the bank has also seen a boost in digital activities in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that has reduced physical traffic and branch access.

    In Hong Kong, average monthly equity and FX transactions surged 63 percent and 65 percent, respectively. Retail activities saw similar trends with 94 percent of all regional transactions in March conducted online.

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  • Revolut Singapore Strengthens Leadership Team

    Revolut Singapore Strengthens Leadership Team

    The fast-growing digital bank has added a CEO, chief compliance officer and head of growth in Singapore, where it now employs over 30 people, it announced on Tuesday.

    U.K.-based fintech Revolut has appointed James Shanahan as its Singapore chief executive officer, who brings more than 25 years’ experience with large banks, insurers and third-parties, particularly in Asia.

    Shanahan, who joined Revolut in March, was previously Railsbank’s Southeast Asia chief of staff. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer for insurer Singapore Life, and held a variety of roles at Ataca, Avaloq, Axa, ANZ, and Standard Chartered. In his new role, he will be responsible for growing Revolut’s local business and expanding into wider Asian markets, a statement said.

    His appointment follows the appointment of Martin Gilbert, the former Standard Life Aberdeen co-chief executive who sat on the MAS International Advisory Panel until early 2020, as chairman of Revolut’s board.

    Compliance Risk Specialist Joins

    Revolut also appointed Rayson Tan as chief compliance officer, chief risk officer and head of legal. He brings more than two decades’ experience in the field, and was most recently a managing director in the Compliance & Regulatory Affairs department of Credit Suisse.

    Tan has also held various country, regional and global AML and sanction roles at Deutsche Bank and UBS.

    Business Development Hire

    Pam Chuang, the former vice president of sales and partnerships at GoBear, was appointed head of growth. She was part of the pioneer team at the Singapore-based financial supermarket, and was instrumental in scaling its reach across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

    Before that, Chuang held leadership roles for companies including AIA Group, ReMark International, Saxo Bank and Aon.

    Rapid Growth

    Founded in 2015, Revolut launched in Singapore in 2019, where it operates a multi-currency wallet. 

    In February, it announced a $500 million series D raise led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm TCV, which it said will be used to improve existing products and services as well as expand its outreach outside of its U.K. base.

    Earlier this month, Revolut announced that it had officially launched a bank in Lithuania, and will use the European banking license that it received for the operations there to start awarding loans, issue credit cards and open savings accounts.

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  • UBS Hires Former Mainland Regulator for China Integration

    UBS Hires Former Mainland Regulator for China Integration

    UBS will look to integrate its China business units in a rapidly changing regulatory environment under the leadership of an ex-official from the mainland banking regulator.

    Alan Wang (or Wang Wei), a former senior official with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, joins the bank as a managing director and China integration lead, according to a report citing an internal memo.

    The bank will look to leverage Wang’s experience to integrate its various mainland business units in accordance to the local regulatory environment. In the Hong Kong-based role, Wang will work closely with UBS’s China country head David Chin and report to APAC president Edmund Koh.

    I am confident that his expertise in regulation and knowledge of the onshore market and network will be a great asset to foster long-term strategic development in the region, Koh added.

    UBS’s ambitions in mainland China are no secret with a nearly comprehensive set of businesses including wholly-owned units in wealth management, asset management, futures alongside a fund management joint venture called UBS SDIC Fund Management.

    Ownership aside, the bank has also been rapidly expanding these business units and had reportedly hit its hiring target ahead of time to double headcount from 600 in 2016 to 1,200.

  • OCBC Quarterly Profits Down

    OCBC Quarterly Profits Down

    Net profits at OCBC plunged 43 percent in the first quarter due to non-operating losses from its insurance arm and increased provisions most notably for oil-linked exposure.

    OCBC posted S$698 million ($494 million) in quarterly net profits – below analyst estimates of $666 million, according to Refinitv data.

    Its insurance contributions nosedived 94 percent year-on-year due to unrealized mark-to-market losses and its total allowances were increased from $176 million to $465 million which includes $195 million set aside for a «Singapore-based corporate customer in the oil trading sector».

    Recently, OCBC was reportedly amongst the lenders to disgraced oil trader Hin Leong, with an estimated exposure of $220 million.

    Driven by fee income wealth management and brokerage units, non-interest income was up 11 percent to $551 million. Net investment gains were also up at $84 million due to the sale of debt securities.

    Net trading income plummeted by more than 90 percent to reach $13 million due to unrealized mark-to-market losses in Great Eastern’s investment portfolio.

    Despite a still stable balance sheet – non-performing loans were up by only 2 bps while net interest margin remained at 1.76 percent – the additional provisions signal further headwinds ahead in light of the effects from the coronavirus pandemic.

    According to OCBC group CEO Samuel Tsien, the coming period is expected to be very difficult for individuals and businesses.

    We paid close watch on our credit portfolio against the market uncertainty, and significantly shored up our allowances on a forward-looking basis, he said.

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  • UOB Earnings Hit By Declining Interest Rates

    UOB Earnings Hit By Declining Interest Rates

    UOB’s Q1 2020 net earnings are down 15 percent on-quarter and down 19 percent on-year, hit by declining margins and higher credit costs.

    UOB reported a quarterly profit of S$855 million, down from $1.05 billion a year before, and total income of S$2.41 billion, down 1 percent on-quarter and flat on-year despite a lower interest rate environment and slowing business momentum towards the end of the quarter resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to its earnings release on Wednesday.

    Compared to Q4 2019, net interest income fell 3 percent to S$1.59 billion, despite loan growth of 4 percent, due to lower interest rates. Non-interest income grew 2 percent to S$813 million, boosted by growth in loan-related and wealth management fees. Treasury and investment income was relatively flat, and total operating expenses decreased by 3 percent.

    However, the bank increased total impairment charges to S$286 million as a result of the challenging macro environment, up from $93 million a year before.

    UOB said it is maintaining a strong balance sheet amid challenging economic conditions, with an additional allowance of S$546 million to strengthen coverage this quarter. Its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio remained strong at 14.1 percent, 0.2 percentage points lower on-quarter.

    In times such as these, we ensure our balance sheet remains strong and our capital and liquidity positions robust, so we can continue to support our customers through the roughest of cycles and crises…we are confident that we will ride through these extraordinarily difficult times and emerge stronger, Wee Eee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO, said in the announcement.

    Last month, Wee said in a statement that the bank, which employs over 24,000 people, is not planning any layoffs this year.

  • Citi Names APAC Corporate Banking Head

    Citi Names APAC Corporate Banking Head

    Citi names the successor to former Asia Pacific head of corporate banking Gerry Keefe, who will take on the new role in the bank. Citi appointed Kaleem Rizvi as its new APAC head of corporate banking last week, according to a statement. In his new Hong Kong-based role, Rizvi will report to Jan Metzger, APAC head of banking, capital markets and advisory, and Jason Rekate, global head of corporate banking.

    Rizvi joined Citi in 1996 in its Pakistan-based offices across roles in investment banking, institutional remedial management, corporate banking and commercial banking. Since then, he’s held other roles in a covering diverse range of markets including Nigeria, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and, most recently, the Americas as Citi’s Colombia-based CIB head for the Andea, Central American and Caribbean cluster.

    Rizvi’s predecessor Keefe remains with the bank and will take on a new role as global head of TTS corporate and public sector sales.

    The bank also named Christie Chang as its new corporate banking chairman for the region, in addition to her existing roles as head of Taiwan BCMA and president of Citibank Taiwan. Chang will provide leadership and targeted client coverage in the region. 

    Chang joined Citibank in 1989 as a management associate and has since held various senior Taiwan roles. These appointments underline the importance of Asia Pacific to our global corporate banking franchise, Metzger said. We look forward to this new leadership building further on the strong relationships we have across the region with corporates, financials, and public sector clients and the 95 percent of the ‘Fortune 500’ who bank across the region.

  • DBS Q1 Profit Falls as Bank Makes Covid-19 Allowances

    DBS Q1 Profit Falls as Bank Makes Covid-19 Allowances

    While the bank’s first-quarter income grew 13 percent to cross $4 billion for the first time, pre-emptive allowances it has made for uncertainty due to Covid-19 has resulted in its lowest profit in six quarters.

    DBS Bank’s first-quarter net profit is down 29 percent year-on-year, at S$1.17 billion ($830 million), as it set aside general allowances of S$703 million for risks arising from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

    The bank’s total income of S$4.03 billion, however, was up 13 percent on year and 16 percent on quarter, on the back of broad-based growth in non-trade corporate loans and fee income, as well as gains from investment securities. Fee income grew 14 percent from a year ago to a new high of S$832 million, led by a 28 percent increase in wealth management fees, a 17 percent rise in loan-related fees, and a 64 percent increase in investment banking fees, though card fees fell 8 percent due to lower transactions across the region. Non-interest income grew 39 percent from a year ago to S$712 million.

    Expenses grew by 4 percent from the year before, but was still 3 percent lower on quarter to S$1.56 billion, from lower general expenses and staff costs. Profit before allowances grew 20 percent to S$2.47 billion.

    Its balance sheet was bolstered with reserves growing by 29 percent to S$3.23 billion, as the bank is anticipating a «deeper and more prolonged economic impact» from the pandemic.

    The magnitude of the crisis will be greater than 08-09 and Sars, DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said in a media briefing on Thursday, with the bank expecting increased credit risks going forward. However, it maintains a positive business outlook, with resilient loan growth, record deposit inflows, and upside from non-interest income.

    As a result of the uncertain economic outlook, DBS expects a full-year profit before allowances to be around 2019 levels after factoring in declines for the next three quarters, Gupta said, noting that its operating performance in the first quarter has given DBS a strong head-start.

    We will maintain a solid balance sheet with ample capital, liquidity, and loss allowance reserves that give us strong buffers to absorb external shocks, Gupta said in the statement.

    The board announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per ordinary share, unchanged from the quarter before. It will be paid together with the dividend for Q4 2019 on 26 May.

    DBS said it would continue to assess the prospective impact of the pandemic on financial performance, credit costs, and capital ratios, and adjust its dividend policy as appropriate.

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  • More Loan Loss Provisions at HSBC After Q1 Profit Plunge

    More Loan Loss Provisions at HSBC After Q1 Profit Plunge

    HSBC reported a 48 percent year-on-year drop in pre-tax profits and increased its reserve for in anticipation of loan losses fuelled by the ongoing pandemic and volatile oil prices.

    The British lender registered $3.23 billion of quarterly pre-tax profits, falling short of the average analyst forecast of $3.67 billion. It also upped loan loss provisions by $2.4 billion to $3 billion attributing the headwinds to coronavirus and oil, citing «a significant charge related to a corporate exposure – a likely reference to reported recent troubles with oil trader Hin Leong.

    Revenue was down 5.1 percent to $13.69 billion and operating expenses also fell 4.5 percent to $7.85 billion.

    According to an HSBC statement, the outlook for world economies in 2020 has substantially worsened in the past two months» and warned of the potential for more bad loans and weaker margins from lower rates. Expect materially lower profitability in 2020, the statement added.

    On dividends – a thorny issue from the bank which has faced outrage from disappointed Hong Kong retail shareholders – the bank will review at or ahead of HSBC’s year-end results for 2020.

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  • SGX Expands Partnership With Citic Securities

    SGX Expands Partnership With Citic Securities

    The collaboration covers fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC), real estate investment trusts (REITs), and capital raising.

    Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Citic Securities, China’s largest securities firm, will jointly explore the feasibility of developing and listing new bond and risk management products for international participants who are looking to invest in China’s bond market, under a new agreement signed between the two parties on Wednesday at a virtual ceremony.

    The ongoing pandemic has not dampened both parties’ determination in working together to develop new financial products and support China’s continuous internationalization and opening of its financial markets, SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye said about the agreement.

    The partners will also jointly promote SGX’s real estate investment trusts (REITs) and large-cap stocks in the Mainland China and Hong Kong markets, as well as engage and educate Greater China companies on the benefits of raising funds in Singapore’s capital markets, the announcement said.

    Singapore is one of Asia’s largest REIT and property trust markets, with a combined market capitalization of over S$85 billion ($60 billion).

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