Banking and finance sector

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin East West Bank, today one of the largest American banks to service the U.S.-China business community, started out its life banking to Chinese immigrants in California in 1973. Much has changed in the banking industry since, but East West hasn’t lost its early focus. That niche in turn, is likely to help it weather interest rate hikes and the economic downturn in the U.S. this year, Chairman and CEO Dominic Ng said in an interview. “If you're in the business and you have 6,000 U.S. banks that can compete against you, then every time the market slows down you're going to get hurt bad and competition is going to eat you alive because they’re all doing exactly the same thing,” Ng said in a Zoom interview from Los Angeles on Tuesday. “But if you are one of a few choices for your customers in a market, you are literally able to pick and choose and to get business even when the economy slows down,” he said. “We take that … [Read more...] about Asia Niche Will Help East West Bank Weather U.S. Economic Downturn, CEO Dominic Ng Says

A man works at a construction site of apartment buildings in Beijing, China.  REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File photo Engen Tham, Ziyi Tang SHANGHAI/BEIJING  – China’s banking regulator is scrutinizing property sector loan portfolios of some local and foreign lenders to assess systemic risks, sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the real estate sector’s debt crisis worsens. As part of their assessment, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) is looking at banks’ loan book exposure to developers to find out if those credit decisions were made according to the rules, one of the sources said. The aim of the latest regulatory probe is to measure risks to the financial system from the ongoing property sector turmoil in the world’s second-largest economy , two of the sources said. The CBIRC did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The move comes as policymakers … [Read more...] about China regulator probes banks’ property loan portfolio, sources say

CALL FOR JUSTICE Members of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines demand justice for Fr. Marcelito “Tito” Paez, who was gunned down by unidentified assailants on Monday in Jaen, Nueva Ecija, during a condemnation rally at Jamboree Rotunda on Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City in this photo taken in 2017. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE MANILA, Philippines – The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) denounced what it said was a “Marcosian state attack” against some of its members, who are facing non-bailable charges for allegedly financing the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). The Department of Justice earlier indicted 16 individuals, including four RMP nuns, claiming that the group’s bank accounts showed that those involved “made funds available to the CPP-NPA.” READ: Members of church-based org face non-bailable raps for terror financing In a statement on Thursday, the RMP called the move a “part of [the] worsening state repression against … [Read more...] about Missionary group cries foul over terrorist financing raps vs members

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on August 15, 2022 - August 21, 2022. - A + A Global foreign direct investments (FDI) recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, reaching nearly US$1.6 trillion, according to the World Investment Report 2022 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). The report indicated that developing Asia, which receives 40% of global FDI, saw flows rise in 2021 for the third straight year to an “all-time high” of US$619 billion, growing 21% in China and 44% in Southeast Asia respectively. These findings corroborate the strong investment flows witnessed in Malaysia in 2021. The country’s economy, despite being affected by a pandemic-induced recession, benefitted tremendously from a record level of approved investments totalling RM306.5 billion, of which 68.1% was from FDI in the manufacturing, electrical and electronics (E&E), services and primary sectors, particularly mining. … [Read more...] about Growing Champions: Digital economy agreements can boost FDI

Make that four weeks in a row of gains for the U.S. stock market, as the rally has become undeniable. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both climbed more than 3% last week, with the the Dow up 2.9%. The S&P 500 has now climbed 15% from its lows in mid-June, while the Nasdaq has clawed back 20% since then. That could technically be described as a new bull market for the index. A 20% retracement from a recent low fits the bill—or the bull—but there are a lot of opinions about that. But we can't deny the strength of the rally, especially when we dig into the charts. The average stock in the Nasdaq Composite index is up 34% from its lows. Remember, just a few months ago, we were talking about the average Nasdaq stock being down 50% from its highs. The pendulum has swung back in a big way. Across the market, the breadth thrust has been pretty impressive. And no, that's not a swimming stroke. The breath trust indicator is a technical indicator used to ascertain market momentum … [Read more...] about Going Back to School with Stock Market Fundamentals

SHANGHAI  – China’s first batch of publicly traded rental property real estate investment trusts (REITs) was snapped up in Shanghai and Shenzhen by yield-hungry investors this week, opening up a new financing channel for the struggling real estate sector. The three newly launched REITs, based on affordable rental properties, were each more than 100 times oversubscribed among institutional investors, managers said in filings. The REITs will raise a combined 3.8 billion yuan ($56 million), based on Reuters’ calculations, and the subscription periods ended early. The rental property REIT launches come as Beijing steps up efforts to aid the real estate business, a sector that was a pillar of growth in the world’s second-biggest economy over the last two decades but is now reeling amid debt piles, mortgage boycotts and sluggish sales. China launched a public REITs market based on infrastructure projects about a year ago, but this week’s launches mark the first time the REIT market has … [Read more...] about China’s first publicly traded rental property REITs snapped up by investors

When President Marcos announced during his first State of the Nation Address that there would be no more lockdowns moving forward, businesses were so happy that finally, economic reopening will continue and livelihoods will stabilize. The resumption of in-person classes added to the optimism. However, there seems to be some overzealous local government units (LGUs) that insist on their own guidelines that are not in sync with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. Take the case of this mayor in a city in Mindanao who issued a rule requiring that all establishments may operate at full capacity provided that all employees and customers present proof of COVID-19 booster jabs before entering any such establishments. The city, just like Metro Manila, is already operating under alert level 1, which supposedly relaxes a lot of the mobility protocols. Based on the framework issued by the mayor, those who will not comply with the city’s … [Read more...] about BIZ BUZZ: Overbearing LGU mayor

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): Lambo Group Bhd said it was unaware of any wrongdoing related to its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Fujian Accsoft Technology Development, after China's finance ministry imposed a penalty on the subsidiary's auditor last month. Referring to an article on the sinchew.com.my website on July 13 relating to the penalty, Lambo said it was only made aware of the article by Bursa Malaysia Securities on Wednesday. “At this juncture, the company is not aware of any wrongdoing in connection to Fujian Accsoft. Nevertheless, the company will verify the contents of the article and to take necessary action, if any,” Lambo said. “The company reserves all comments and shall make the necessary announcement(s) as appropriate when there are further developments to this matter,” said the company in a bourse filing. China’s Global Times reported in July that the country's finance ministry had imposed an administrative fine against an accounting firm … [Read more...] about Lambo says not aware of any wrongdoing in China subsidiary

Representative image The Union health ministry has asked eight designated hospitals that treat rare diseases to set up an expert committee each, which will decide on providing the cash aid of Rs 50 lakh within a month of receiving an application for financial assistance from a patient. The eight Centres of Excellence (CoEs) will also be given one-time financial support up to Rs 5 crore for procurement of equipment for strengthening patients care services for screening, diagnosis and prevention (prenatal diagnosis) for rare diseases based on a gap analysis, according to the new guidelines issued by the health ministry. Also, more CoEs will be added for regional outreach if they are found to be suitable in terms of infrastructure and human resources based on recommendations of the Technical Committee of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the guidelines said. The ministry on August 11 issued the guidelines and procedures for granting financial assistance to patients suffering … [Read more...] about Eight hospitals to set up committees to decide on applications for aid to treat rare diseases

Ayala-backed technology startup Expedock has secured $17.5 million worth of funding to enhance its digitized freight forwarding process in a bid to make the operations of the supply chain sector more efficient. The total funding raised includes $13.5 billion in Series A financing and $4-million seed money. Global software investor Insights Partners led the funding round. Meta, eBay, Clearmetal and Project44, among others, also participated in the fundraising activity. “Insight’s bread and butter is software companies driving transformative change in their industries, and that’s exactly what Expedock is doing in the international freight industry,” Insights Partners senior associate Connor Guess said. He is set to join Expedock’s board of directors. Expedock is a portfolio company under Kickstart Ventures Inc., a wholly owned corporate venture capital firm of Globe Telecom. The capital infusion is earmarked to expand Expedock’s team which provides the supply chain sector data … [Read more...] about Ayala-backed logistics tech startup raises fresh capital