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Banking / Investment in Asia

  • Mizuho takes on the Americas

    JAPAN, 2016/01/11 How is Japanese mega-bank Mizuho growing its investment banking franchise in the Americas? Stefania Palma talks to Mizuho Securities USA's chief executive, John Koudounis, to find out. Two-decade-long deflation and a record low-interest-rate environment are pushing Japanese mega-banks to diversify revenue sources out of lending into fee-based business – such as investment banking – and to expand abroad. Mizuho’s US investment banking arm – Mizuho Securities USA – is capitalising and growing on the back of both trends. Mizuho Securities USA’s deficit capital markets group has spearheaded the subsidiary’s increase. Within the space of four years, the lender has jumped up eight places in the bookrunner league table for US corporate deals to position 11 in mid-2015, according to Bloomberg. The subsidiary as well made its name as a lead manager in the major and second major bond deals in history – Verizon’s $49bn trade and Actavis’s $21bn note.

  • Finance Minister of the Year 2016

    NEPAL, 2016/01/10 Finance Minister of the Year 2016 awards celebrate the officials that have best managed to stimulate increase and stabilise their economy. Global and Asia-Pacific Ram Sharan Mahat, former finance minister, Nepal Ram Sharan Mahat receives The Banker’s World and Asia-Pacific Finance Minister of the Year awards for his exemplary work in the aftermath of the two disastrous earthquakes that hit Nepal in 2015 and in pushing for reforms to improve governance in the country’s ministry of finance.

  • Foreign investment in Indonesia

    INDONESIA, 2015/12/27 Plans by a Chinese-led private investment group to pour $5bn into a new West Java industrial park signal that the Indonesian government’s efforts to attract additional foreign direct investment (FDI) may be yielding the desired results. In late October China Minsheng Investment (CMI) confirmed plans to construct the CMI Indonesia Industrial Park as part of Beijing’s One Belt, One Road strategy aimed at boosting connectivity and commerce between Asia and Europe. “We welcome this project as it fits well with the Indonesian government’s aim to develop additional manufacturing industries and generate additional jobs,” Suryo Bambang Sulisto, a member of CMI’s World Advisory Council and chairman of the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told media in late October. The announcement came on the heels of a recent investment promotion campaign, with Indonesia launching several FDI-related reforms aimed at sparking wider interest in a series of upcoming infrastructure mega-projects.

  • Banking Moves into the 21st Century

    WORLD, 2015/12/16 Global developments in finance and geopolitics are prompting a rethinking of the structure of banking and of the nature of money itself. Part other interesting news items: In Iceland, the booms and busts culminating in the banking crisis of 2008-09 have prompted lawmakers to consider a plan to remove the power to create money from private banks. In Ecuador, the central bank is responding to a shortage of US dollars (the official Ecuadorian currency) by issuing digital dollars through accounts to which everyone has access, entirely making it a bank of the people. In a November 2015 article titled “Russia Debates Unorthodox Orthodox Financial Alternative,” William Engdahl writes:

  • Reserve Bank of India Says Intervening In Rupee Futures Market

    INDIA, 2015/12/11   Ahead of next week's FOMC conference, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would intervene in the rupee currency futures market, if required, to manage excessive volatility. The RBI very often intervenes in the forex market in order to maintain orderly conditions in the market. The central bank said the data for the exchange-traded currency derivatives market would be published in monthly bulletins. The disclosure is the initial such by RBI.

  • The banking industry's all of outstanding bad loans stood at nearly 2 trillion yuan

    CHINA, 2015/11/30 The banking industry's all of outstanding bad loans stood at nearly 2 trillion yuan at the end of September, marking the 16th straight quarterly deterioration in loan quality, official data show. The country's financial institutions saw the price of non-performing loans rise by 500 billion yuan over the initial three quarters of the year, according to data from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) that was viewed by a Caixin reporter, but not released to the public. The ratio of bad loans to total loans rose by 0.35 % points to additional than 2 % over the same period.

  • Uzbekistan to realize investment projects worth about $17B

    UZBEKISTAN, 2015/11/22 Uzbek leader Islam Karimov signed a resolution “On measures to implement the agreements reached during the International Investment Forum in Tashkent", which stipulates implementation of new projects with a total price of $16.9 billion in 2016-2017. In general, implementation of 317 investment projects on modernization, technical and technological renewal of production is expected to be launched in the coming two years. It is planned to implement 53 projects worth $10.37 billion in the energy sector of Uzbekistan. These include the construction of the fourth line of the Uzbek section of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline, a new thermal power plant with a total capacity of 900 MW in the Namangan region, construction of the complex for the production of olefins in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan.

  • Bharti Airtel is an Indian telecommunications company that operates across the continent.

    INDIA, 2015/11/20 Africa is drawing a variety of investors in search of natural resources and fast-growing consumer markets. They are eager to benefit from some of the highest economic increase rates in the world – as two-thirds of the nations in the continent will grow at over 5% over the next five years – and favourable demographics. Africa’s fast-growing, very young and increasingly urban people is currently estimated at 1.2 billion and set to exceed four billion by 2100, at the same time as around 40% of the world people will be living in Africa, based on projections from the UN. As the EU and China remain Africa’s major trade and investment partners and President Obama has given momentum to the US-Africa partnership, India’s involvement with Africa has been growing steadily. It is set to intensify further, based on the synergies of needs and interests.

  • Azerbaijan aims to draft a new strategy for developing the banking sector

    AZERBAIJAN, 2015/11/19 Azerbaijan aims to draft a new strategy for developing the banking sector with a view to support entrepreneurship in the country. The relevant issue was discussed at a conference of the presidium of the Association of Banks of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Central Bank Elman Rustamov. The sides exchanged views on drafting the new strategy for preparation of an action plan of Azerbaijani banksfor 2016, the definition of strategic objectives, corresponding to the current market conditions and requirements. A appropriate attention was paid to the development of the quality of banking services rendered to the people and protecting the interests of the people.

  • Dragon Oil Company invested the equivalent of $4.8 billion in Turkmenistan's offshore fields

    TURKMENISTAN, 2015/11/18 The Dragon Oil Company invested the equivalent of $4.8 billion in Turkmenistan's offshore fields in the Caspian Sea, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported last week. Dragon Oil is making further investments in the Turkmen hydrocarbon fields to expand production and construct new platforms. The company signed a production-sharing agreement with Turkmenistan 15 years ago related to the development and production of oil and gas in the Cheleken arrangement area.
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