Lead Stories
China and Australia ink fintech deal to share information on new trends; Regulators in both countries will provide each other with insights on experiments with regulatory technology
Ryan Browne – CNBC
China and Australia’s regulators have agreed to partner up on financial technology (fintech), a move that will give them oversight on new trends in each other’s markets.
https://goo.gl/VWfr28
China’s Central Bank Chief Warns of ‘Sudden, Contagious and Hazardous’ Financial Risks
Bloomberg News
Wide-ranging commentary also pushes for tougher regulation; Zhou says China needs to reform, open up financial markets
China’s financial system is becoming significantly more vulnerable due to high leverage, according to central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, who has made a series of blunt warnings in recent weeks about debt levels in the world’s second-largest economy.
https://goo.gl/G4N6W8
HSBC Commits $100 Billion to Combat Climate Change
By Natasha Bach – Fortune
HSBC Monday unveiled a raft of new commitments to fight climate change and cut the climate-related risks in its own business model.
https://goo.gl/EJ7qEH
Donald Trump accuses Japan of unfair trade practices; Relationship ‘not free or reciprocal’, says US president on first stop of Asia tour
Demetri Sevastopulo and Robin Harding in Tokyo – FT
Donald Trump accused Japan of engaging in unfair trade practices on the first leg of his five-nation Asia tour, during which the American president will focus on improving the US trade balance and efforts to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
https://goo.gl/5jseho
Trump Is Leaving Japan Empty-Handed on Trade
By Isabel Reynolds , Justin Sink , and Craig Gordon – Bloomberg
President had hoped for concessions on trade from Japan’s Abe; Two leaders found more common ground on North Korea threat
They autographed baseball caps emblazoned with “Donald & Shinzo.” They played nine holes of golf with a Japanese sensation often compared to Tiger Woods and didn’t keep score. They shared an intimate dinner and repeatedly showered each other with praise.
https://goo.gl/EBkWJV
Economics key to US relevance in Southeast Asia
Jacob Merkle – East Asia Forum
US strategic policy in Southeast Asia pays startlingly little attention to the role of economics. With China encouraging ASEAN members to renounce US security involvement in the region, it is time for the United States to step back and re-evaluate how it engages with Southeast Asia.
https://goo.gl/UvVqR8
Cash Holdings by Asia’s Rich Rise to Five-Year High, Survey Says
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen and Krystal Chia – Bloomberg
Rich Asians boosted their cash holdings to the highest level in five years as they sought to buffer their wealth against any downturn in buoyant financial markets, according to a survey by Capgemini SA.
https://goo.gl/Sf3W1w
Trump’s H-1B Reform Is to Make Life Hell for Immigrants and Companies; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications
By Joshua Brustein – Bloomberg
Donald Trump came into office promising a restrictive new approach to immigration and there has been little question about his intention to follow through — with one seeming exception. Despite its enthusiastic rhetoric about the H-1B program, which provides temporary visas to high-skilled workers, the administration failed to make significant changes in time to impact the program’s annual lottery this April, leaving some who had anticipated action fuming. It has also declined to take up any of the legislative proposals for H-1B overhaul.
https://goo.gl/M4yiwx
Asia Can Make TPP Work Without the U.S.; The region still has much to gain from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
By The Editors – Bloomberg
Donald Trump’s grand tour of Asia will attract a lot of attention this week, but in one respect the fuss will be misleading. The president will be no more than a bystander when the region’s leaders make a very big decision — whether to go ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal that the U.S. designed and subsequently abandoned.
https://goo.gl/iBWKC5
FinTech News
Polaris to roll out robo-advisory service to Asia’s financial firms, backed by Richard Li’s FWD unit
South China Morning Post
Mainland Chinese start-up Polaris to roll out robo-advisory systems with more banks and other traditional financial institutions
https://goo.gl/pE4RcP
Regulatory News
China and Australia to cooperate on fintech; Csrc ChinaAustralian Securities and Investments Commission
ASIC
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (‘CSRC’) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (‘ASIC’) have entered into an agreement to promote innovation in financial services in their respective markets.
https://goo.gl/ECCpEk
Former stockbroker sentenced for dishonest use of clients funds
ASIC
Mr Lewis Anthony Wright Fellowes, a former strockbroker from Perth, Western Australia, has been sentenced in the Brisbane District Court on dishonesty charges brought by ASIC.
https://goo.gl/jyGKcv
Investing News
Capgemini’s Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2017: Asia-Pacific Continues to Dominate High Net Worth Individual Population and Wealth
Business Wire
Cash and offshore investments reach highs as high net worth individuals seek protection against risk
https://goo.gl/vpnYdk
Jack Ma says no Ant Financial IPO anytime soon
Steven Millward – Techninasia.com
Jack Ma has put a halt to years of rumors about an imminent IPO for Alibaba’s payments arm, Ant Financial.
https://goo.gl/tW883X
Japan
Japan is firing its financial arrows at the wrong target; Abe should aim at raising wages, not prices, to boost economic growth
Nikkei
The debate over Haruhiko Kuroda getting a second term as Bank of Japan governor is close to pointless.
https://goo.gl/wqjW5N
Two decades on, Japan’s megabanks still a long way from profitability; Speedier restructuring needed to tackle negative interest rates, high costs
Nikkei
It is 20 years since Japan’s financial system collapsed in 1997, following the bankruptcy of Hokkaido Takushoku Bank and the closure of Yamaichi Securities in November that year.
https://goo.gl/xkMbgZ
Japan’s Smaller Banks, Desperate for New Revenue, Turn to Dealmaking
By REUTERS
The grim outlook for Japan’s smaller regional banks, who are suffering as Japan’s rural population shrinks rapidly, is prompting some to dive into a new, potentially lucrative line of business that until now was largely taboo: mergers and acquisitions.
https://goo.gl/V56uXC
Trump Boasts About U.S. Economy, Tells Abe Japan Can Be No. 2
By Jennifer Jacobs and Nick Wadhams – Bloomberg
Comment comes at joint appearance by the two leaders in Tokyo; Trump upset at U.S. trade deficit with Japan, calls for change
President Donald Trump told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his nation’s economy isn’t quite as strong as that of the United States, a jibe that came as Trump continued his charges of unfair trade practices by Japan.
https://goo.gl/kd4ACy
Mainland China
China vigorously propels free trade across Asia-Pacific
Xinhua
With increasing international challenges, including fragmentation in free trade arrangements, China has always been vigorously promoting a regional free trade pact in the Asia-Pacific that is open, inclusive and beneficial to all.
https://goo.gl/NbWSCn
Goldman, China’s Sovereign-Wealth Fund Plan Up to $5 Billion in U.S. Investments; China Investment Corp. teaming up with top Wall Street bank on multibillion-dollar investment fund
By Chao Deng and Lingling Wei in Beijing and Julie Steinberg in Hong Kong – WSJ
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -1.00% and China Investment Corp. are partnering on a multibillion-dollar fund to help the giant Chinese sovereign-wealth fund invest in U.S. manufacturing and other sectors, according to people familiar with the matter.
https://goo.gl/CCwGoU
China enhances financial support for small businesses
Xinhua
China has unveiled tax break policies to reduce the corporate burden on small and micro-sized businesses and support economic growth.
https://goo.gl/UGuKeb
China’s Shadow Banking Halts as Regulation Bites, Moody’s Says
Bloomberg News
Shadow banking sector stopped growing in first half of 2017; Assessment follows another warning on debt by the central bank
China’s shadow banking sector, estimated by some analysts to be worth 122.8 trillion yuan ($18.5 trillion), stopped growing in the first half of the year as issuance of wealth management products declined, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
https://goo.gl/WThkAC
China is Finally Going After Click Farms and Fake Online Sales
Bloomberg News
Changes threaten hefty fines for fake reviews or sales; Original law enacted before Alibaba, Tencent, JD existed
China enacted sweeping changes to a business competition law to address fraud in the e-commerce industry, which is plagued by malfeasance ranging from fake positive reviews to merchants goosing sales numbers.
https://goo.gl/S5w32w
Hong Kong
As row with government rumbles on, former Hong Kong finance chief John Tsang plugs TV show
South China Morning Post
Defeated chief executive candidate insists he did not need to declare work with broadcaster RTHK, because it was unpaid, and says he is waiting to hear from Chief Executive’s Office
https://goo.gl/vDNnH6
Swift to support instant payments in Hong Kong
Finextra
As banks face growing challenges due to evolving payment systems and the global shift to real-time payments, SWIFT is providing the Hong Kong financial community with an enterprise messaging and gateway solution to the Hong Kong Faster Payments System (FPS) that aims to go live in September 2018.
https://goo.gl/hMGhLX
Indonesia
Indonesia to Probe Subianto, Suhartos Over Paradise Papers
By Karlis Salna – Bloomberg
Former presidential candidate’s tax disclosures to be examined; Suharto’s children also registered companies in Bermuda: ICIJ
Indonesian authorities are investigating if former presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and the children of ex-dictator Suharto, named in documents leaked from a Bermuda law firm, are in breach of the country’s tax laws.
https://goo.gl/BNK9is
Singapore
Singapore: How to win work in Asia’s financial powerhouse
LUCY ALDERSON – Construction News
CN visited the Lion City and spoke to three UK construction firms to find out how they gained a foothold in one of the richest, most relentless and most saturated markets in the world.
https://goo.gl/VSvfTc
One of Asia’s major banks just sacrificed profits to finally put bad loans behind it; Southeast Asia’s largest bank, DBS Group Holdings, unexpectedly set aside another 815 million Singapore dollars ($597.4 million) to cover for bad loans from the troubled oil and gas sector
Yen Nee Lee – CNBC
Southeast Asia’s largest bank, DBS Group Holdings, unexpectedly set aside another 815 million Singapore dollars ($597.4 million) to cover for bad loans from the troubled oil and gas sector – a move it hopes will finally put worries over asset quality behind it.
https://goo.gl/ohZbwK
Singapore plays fintech evangelist on global mission; MAS pushes fintech gospel with cross-border payments in Asean, blockchain experiments
JAMIE LEE – BusinessTimes.com.sg
IN TWO short years, Singapore has zipped into pole position in the fintech space, challenging rivals such as London in drawing intellectual and funding capital into the city-state with its open adoption of new technology and more broadly, innovation.
https://goo.gl/QaxWBV
Vietnam
Vietnam’s global integration: it is now the financial sector’s turn
Viet Nam News
Vietnam has made great strides in integrating with the global economy and accomplished a great deal as its rapid economic growth in the past 30 years testifies. It is committed to opening up its finance sector, an important pillar in the economic integration process, and enhancing international co-operation.But the country’s financial integration is relatively low, though increasing, especially when compared with its high degree of trade integration.
https://goo.gl/MEZuRc
Mobile payment helps develop non-cash economy
Viet Nam News
The Vietnam Electronic Payment Forum 2017 (VEPF) themed “Mobile Payment – a factor to promote the non-cash economy” officially opened this morning in Hà Nội.
https://goo.gl/MHxn5P
Typhoon Slams Into Vietnam, Killing At Least 15
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Typhoon Damrey slammed into Vietnam’s south-central coast on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and leaving four others missing, officials said.
https://goo.gl/qBZyoj
Thailand
Life without cash; Perception is everything when it comes to wider adoption of digital payment, and a lot of people still worry about security and privacy
Bangkok Post
As digital innovations continue to transform the way we live, a lot of things we once took for granted are falling by the wayside. Paper money and coins could soon be among them.
https://goo.gl/8iptjM
Taiwan
Forex reserves hit new high in October
Focus Taiwan
Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a new high at the end of October because of an increase in returns on the funds managed by Taiwan’s central bank, according to data released by the bank on Monday.
https://goo.gl/aUrQvT
Taiwan hopes to find natural way to engage with China’s Xi Jinping at APEC
Financial Express
Taiwan hopes to find a “natural way” to exchange views with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders that starts in Vietnam this week, the self-ruled island’s envoy to the meeting said on Monday.
https://goo.gl/DBPU7m
South Korea
Nations urged to disrupt N. Korea’s illicit financing activities
Yonhap
A global anti-money laundering task force urged its member states to robustly implement its recommendations to disrupt North Korea’s illicit financing activities around the world, South Korea’s financial regulator said Monday.
https://goo.gl/gk9mzM
China, Trump and the North Korean nightmare; Beijing could get drawn into a war on the peninsula
Gideon Rachman – FT
With the threat of another Korean war looming, this week’s US-China summit in Beijing could be the most important in decades.
https://goo.gl/E4EfG6
Philippines
Bank of China HK agrees to buy Vietnam, Philippines businesses from parent
Reuters
BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd , a unit of Bank of China Ltd , said on Monday it had agreed to acquire the Vietnamese and Philippine businesses from its parent for about $238 million, the latest step in the bank’s restructuring in Southeast Asia.
https://goo.gl/8FfHbJ
Malaysia
Malaysia’s MBSB agrees to buy Asian Finance Bank for $152 mln
Reuters Staff
Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) said it plans to acquire Asian Finance Bank (AFB) from its foreign shareholders for 645 million ringgit ($152.5 million) in a deal that would give the non-bank lender a banking license.
https://goo.gl/2w5qUb
HSBC Malaysia Hunting for Innovations
Finews.asia
HSBC established a strategic investment team to search out fintech start-up companies in Malaysia.
https://goo.gl/WU1yof
India
India a currency manipulator? Why US thinking is laughable
Financial Express
Enough Indian economists will tell you the rupee is overvalued and needs to be at around 68-70 to the dollar to be at its true value.
https://goo.gl/U7oPUL
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia designated Finance Secretary
Times of India
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new Finance Secretary, an official order said today.
https://goo.gl/2516uL
Paradise Papers: Largest ever leak of financial data shows Indian corporates’ trail in secret tax havens; 714 Indians in list
Financial Express
This cache of 13.4 million documents named Paradise Papers tumbled out almost 18 months after Panama Papers
https://goo.gl/jQXaCp
Australia
Bulls bet banks to push Australia stocks to post-crisis peak
Business Times
Australia, home to one of the worst-performing stock markets anywhere in the developed world this year, is finally poised to leave the financial crisis behind.
https://goo.gl/gA1HFr
Australia’s Surging Gold Exports Surprise In 2017
Anna Golubova – Kitco News
Australia is having a very positive year for gold exports, with the latest monthly figures revealing a double-digit rise.
https://goo.gl/fS6ZA5
The post Asia Pacific Financial News from John Lothian News – November 5, 2017 appeared first on John Lothian News (JLN).