News

The credit stress due to economic recession in the Philippine banking system is low relative to other Asian countries, according to Moody's.

Moody's Investors Service has placed the ratings of ten Indonesian banks on review for possible downgrade.

Maybank Singapore doubled its loan portfolio, mostly with new customers, under Spring and IE Singapore Financing Schemes from December 2008. Eighty percent of loan applicants are new to Maybank.The main surge came from Bridging Loans offered under the Local Enterprise Financial Scheme or LEFS.LEFS Bridging Loan constitutes more than 50 percent of the total amount of the loan applications received under the scheme from December 2008 to March 2009. Loans offered under the Loan Insurance Scheme (LIS) grew twice as much in the same period. For the LIS loan portfolio, the facilities, close to 70 percent are for domestic and import purposes and the rest for export market.On average, 65 percent of the customers who applied for the government-backed loans are from the general commerce sector. The remaining 35 percent are mainly from the service, manufacturing and construction-related industries.Mr Lee Hong Khim, Head of Business Banking, Maybank Singapore, said: “In total, we plan to expand our government-backed loans portfolio two-fold by 2010. We expect demand to come mainly from customers involved in general commerce with 80 percent for domestic consumption.”Mr Lee added: “Whilst we want to achieve our target, we hope to work even more closely with IE and Spring Singapore to speed up the process of approvals so that the financial needs of the SMEs are met quickly.”

Moody's warns that credit stress among Malaysian banks could increase if unemployment rises and recession sets in for a protracted period. But since credit stress in the Malaysian banking system has been muted, Moody's noted that its review deposit and debt ratings of nine Malaysian banks is unlikely to lead to more than one notch change.Moody's will review the specific circumstances of Malaysia to determine the appropriate systemic support for Malaysian bank ratings and the implications for the nine banks that have been identified as being potentially affected.Factors that Moody's will consider in its assessment of systemic support include the size of the banking system in relation to government resources, the level of stress in the banking system, the foreign currency obligations of the banking systems relative to the government's own foreign exchange resources, and changes to the government's political patterns and priorities.According to Moody's the Malaysian government has implemented a number of pre-emptive measures to ensure the stability of the Malaysian banking system during the global crisis. This includes the provision of a blanket guarantee until December 2010 to all local and foreign currency deposits with all domestic and locally incorporated foreign banking institutions.Furthermore, Moody's also finds the government to be proactive in supporting the banking system in the current economic downturn by introducing several guarantee schemes to share the credit risk of banks when they extend loans to selective sectors and small- and medium-sized enterprises.The banks whose deposit and debt ratings were placed by Moody's on review for possible downgrade are AmBank (M) Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, CIMB Investment Bank Berhad, EON Bank Berhad, Hong Leong Bank Berhad, HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad, Malayan Banking Berhad, Public Bank Berhad, and RHB Bank Berhad."The review of their debt and deposit ratings will look at the extent to which Malaysia's ability to provide support to its banking system, if needed, is converging with the government's own debt capacity as a result of the ongoing global economic and credit crisis," says Christine Kuo, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.At present the deposit and debt ratings of the nine banks on review receive between one to five notches of systemic support.

Hong Leong Islamic Bank posted a net profit after tax of US$15.473 million, up 15 percent year on year.

Hong Leong Bank Berhad net profit after tax for the nine months ending 31 March 2009 improved by 16 percent year-on-year to US$198 million.

Save and we will match that dollar for dollar, is NAB's message to encourage savings among lower-income Australians.

Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank said its corporate banking division expects to grow corporate loans 30 percent this year.

The Hong Kong branch of BNP Paribas Securities Services has been granted a banking licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Bruno Campenon, Head of BNP Paribas Securities Services, described their new business plan as "the development of a unique custodian bank in the Hong Kong market."

HSBC Amanah Malaysia has expanded branches within six months with the opening of its Shah Alam branch.

Australia's NAB is hoping its wealthiest customers will avoid those Swiss bankers and instead take up its family office offerings including cars and gifts.

Metrobank topped Bank Category of the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands award based on an Asia-wide survey by Nielsen Research.

HSBC intends to penetrate Vietnam's promising personal banking segment where less than 10 percent have a bank account. Thus it will soon double its reach in Vietnam by opening three more outlets in Ho Chi Minh City.

Indonesia’s Bank Rakyat says it will cut dividends 35 percent as it faces government pressure to crank out loans with loan growth expected at 22 percent.

Whilst the National Australia Bank is accused of looking at offshoring 628 jobs, Westpac chief Gail Kelly says she will not send jobs overseas while the economy remains tough.

Once bitten perhaps not so twice shy. Temasek and a Goldman Sachs fund are reportedly looking at buying Bank of America’s $8.5 billion stake in Construction Bank of China.