Banking and financial services policy and regulation

Governments in Southeast Asia are ramping up spending just as central banks are putting away their policy-easing tools. From Thailand to Malaysia, states are boosting budgets for railways, roads and other infrastructure projects to help bolster growth in a region facing uncertain global markets and the ...

Digital financial services have the potential to significantly expand economic activity in Cambodia by bridging the gap between existing financial products and growing credit needs, according to a new study. Adopting digital financial services, or fintech, could increase the Kingdom’s GDP by about 6 percent, ...

National Bank of Canada saw strong growth on its investment in Advanced Bank of Asia Ltd (ABA Bank) after taking a 90 percent stake in the Cambodia-based lender last May, a banking executive said on January 25. “I am very satisfied with the performance of ...

Beijing’s plan to invest almost $1tn in infrastructure in some of the world’s poorest countries is raising concerns of risks for the Chinese banks backing the projects. Turmoil in countries such as Venezuela, where China has lent $65bn during the past decade, has led to ...

The Ministry of Commerce is working with the Central Bank to crack down on unreported export earnings, according to Union minister U Than Myint. The government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to try to counter the volatile US dollar-kyat exchange rate, which has prompted widespread complaint ...

Việt Nam will focus on developing human resources, science and technology in a bid to keep pace with the fourth industrial revolution, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said on January 19 at a debate in Davos, Switzerland about the future of production. At the session, ...

In line with expectations, Bank Indonesia has continued with its monetary easing by keeping its benchmark sevenday repo rate at 4.75 percent on January 19 to maintain stability amid growing global uncertainty. The move anticipated a change in direction of United States economic policies brought ...

Thailand’s fourth-largest bank, Kasikornbank, is exploring the possibility of acquiring banks in Indonesia, but acknowledges this is a challenging goal due to the Indonesian regulator’s rules concerning foreign ownership of local banks. The regulations require foreign banks to buy more than one bank, and that the ...

Cambodia will begin applying for a loan from the newly established China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank from next year in response to the current need for infrastructure development. Visiting AIIB vice president and chief investment officer D.J. Pandian met with Vongsey Vissoth, secretary of state at ...

When hope of enacting the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact ended in November, Max Baucus, the United States ambassador to China, was among the officials who had to grapple with disappointment. The partnership, called the TPP, was a hallmark of the Obama administration. It would ...