Banking and financial services
Major banks
Part suppliers ask for more funding

A shortage of capital support for the part supplying industry is hindering the development of the sector, which is crucial for the country’s economic development, participants at a forum said. Financial expert Cấn Văn Lực said funds that supported small- and medium-sized enterprises, science and technology ...
Central bank to relax rules, diversify risks
The Thai central bank will relax rules governing investment in products linked to foreign exchanges and transferring money internationally via mobile phones at the end of this month. Keep reading ...
National bank ups cash reserve requirements
The National Bank of Cambodia has doubled the minimum capital requirements for commercial banks and significantly raised the requirements for microfinance institutions in a move experts say will protect and consolidate the country’s banking sector. Capital requirements are used by central banks worldwide to ensure ...
Myanmar licenses four more banks
Myanmar has granted operating licences to four more Asian banks, bringing to 13 the number of foreign banks allowed to conduct business in the country. Keep reading ...
Vietnam's credit institutions asked to up lending to boost business

State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh on 17 February asked credit institutions to boost lending right after Tet (Lunar New Year) in a move to support businesses. Under Directive No819/NHNN-VP, the Governor asked the institutions to effectively enhance their capital mobilisation to be able to ...
French bank set to enter Cambodia

French bank BRED Banque Populaire – part of the second-largest banking group in France – will start commercial operations in Cambodia later this year, marking the first foray for a European bank in the Kingdom since the late 1990s, sources in the banking sector said ...
ANZ still owes villagers over sugar loan: Oxfam

Australian banking giant ANZ has come under fire for its response to a scandal over its financing of a sugar plantation previously linked to forced evictions and child labour in Kampong Speu province. Titled Still Banking on Land Grabs, Oxfam’s Australia branch released a report on ...
SME Bank deadline extended

The state-run Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) has pushed back the application deadline for its 15-billion-baht policy loan scheme to the end of June after only a third of the money was taken out. Keep reading ...
Thai policy rate maintained
The Bank of Thailand on 3 February unanimously resolved to maintain the policy rate at 1.50 per cent per annum. Keep reading ...
More inflows to Thai capital market expected: TMB

The Thai stock and bond markets are expected to witness new investment inflows in the short term following the Bank of Japan’s decisions on 29 January, said TMB research. “Expectations run high that other central banks in Asia including the People Bank of China and Bank ...