Singapore's big three lenders may still be dominating the top positions in the Association of South-east Asian Nations ranking by Tier 1 capital by a considerable margin, but Thai and Malaysian banks now occupy six of the top 10 spots, while Indonesia's institutions are recording the region's strongest profitability ratios.
Despite its isolationist circumstances, North Korea has been developing an informal market economy on the back of its highly educated labour force. But the state's ambivalence about foreign investment and its geopolitical intransigence make it difficult to know how far the inroads made by outside investment can reach.
The days of the Philippines being one of Asia's underachievers are looking to be a thing of the past, according to the country's finance secretary, Cesar Purisima. The secret to the island nation's success, he tells The Banker, is good governance and a president that the country can unite behind.
Confidence is running high in the Philippine banking sector as the country enjoys low interest rates and improved stability. But with the 2015 deadline for the economic integration of the Association of South-east Asian Nations approaching, increased competition and a reshaping of the market seems inevitable.
After years of uncertainty, companies now have to be prepared for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) because it’s the law. Rather than merely complying with SEPA rules and regulations, corporates need to focus on the opportunities that SEPA brings, says Robin Terry, head of business development and sales for HSBC’s cash management business in Europe
US authorities require Chinese companies listed in the US to abide by certain accounting standards. Many of these Chinese companies are unable to meet such demands because the information contained within their accounts is deemed to be a state secret. Recent fraud accusations involving Chinese companies have only served to highlight this problem, but any sort of resolution appears to be some way off.
The past year has seen a number of significant changes in the transaction banking arena with regulatory reform and increased competition forcing banks to innovate and evolve. In this virtual round table, The Banker asks senior transaction bankers to reflect on the ways in which they have adapted to the new environment and their outlook for 2013.
As South Korea's economy has developed in recent decades, its major companies have grown in tandem. However, as questions are raised about these companies' lack of contribution to Korean 'society' and concerns are aired over their over-importance to the country's economy, what does the future hold for the likes of Samsung?
The wave of international expansions by Japan's banks and corporations in the past year suggest that the country's economy, which has long been struggling to recover from its financial crisis in the 1990s, has finally returned to strength. But Japan is still grappling with domestic difficulties, among them, low growth, large public debt and a mounting energy bill.
Foreign investors have previously accessed Chinese capital markets through the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme, and since December last year the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme – which uses offshore renminbi funds – has broadened foreign investment in China. The development of these products is now gaining momentum, and the scheme has given a first-mover advantage to domestic Chinese firms, putting brands that are little known outside China on the international stage.