Author: Business News Asia

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Insurance Commission (IC) of the Philippines now requires banks that intend to sell insurance products to first secure bancassurance agreement with insurance firms. The insurance firms that the banks will deal with must also be approved by the IC and the bancassurance agreement must also pass the scrutiny of the insurance regulator. The bancassurance agreement must also contain provision stating that the insurance company will comply with all the requirements provided in the Insurance Code of the Philippines, which was signed into law by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III in August 2013. “The selling of insurance…

AUSTRALIA – Aspen Re is further boosting its presence in the Asia-Pacific region by poaching two senior executives from competitors. The reinsurance unit of Aspen announced that it has appointed Andrew Parker, who joins from Hannover Re, as head of Aspen Re’s Australian branch and as senior underwriter. Paul Wedlock, who joins from Swiss Re Australia, has also been appointed senior underwriter within the Asia-Pacific region, Aspen Re said in a statement. Parker, who was recently head of the Australian facultative branch and head of Inter Hannover Australian branch, will report to Thomas Lillelund, managing director, Asia-Pacific, in his new…

MALAYSIA – Sales of Islamic bonds, also known as sukuk, in Malaysia hit its highest in 16 months in April at USD3.1 billion, figures compiled by Bloomberg showed. In another sign that confidence is returning to Malaysia, the world’s biggest sukuk market, Islamic bond issuance was registered at MYR11 billion (USD3.1 billion), a 24 percent rise from the issuance recorded in March. Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bh accounted for MYR2 billion (USD560m) of the total issuance while Danalnfra Nasional Bhd raised MYR3.5 billion. Malaysia’s third-biggest arranger of Islamic notes, AmInvestment Bank projected that local sukuk sales in the country…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Bank lending in the Philippines slowed down in March from a month ago, posting a growth of just 13.7 percent from February’s 15.2 percent rise, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. Data released by the central bank showed that outstanding loans of commercial banks, net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the BSP, rose by 13.7 percent in March, slower than the 15.2 percent growth recorded in February. Similarly, bank lending inclusive of RRPs grew by 13.2 percent in March from 14.6 percent in the previous month. On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, commercial bank lending increased…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines said it will continue to appeal to Indonesia to commute the death penalty it imposed on Filipina drug convict Mary Jane Veloso. The DFA said it will not leave the case of Veloso behind just because the Indonesian government has postponed her execution, which would have been carried out on April 29. DFA spokesman Charles Jose said authorities will even up its efforts to coordinate with their counterparts in Indonesia for the development of the case. “We’ve employed diplomatic track since Veloso’s conviction in 2011. In fact, we’ve…

VIETNAM – The Insurance Supervisory Authority (ISA) of Vietnam has released data showing the country’s total life insurance premiums growing by 25 percent in the January-February of this year to VND3.074 trillion (US$146.38 million). The number of valid contracts has also increased by 13.5 per cent to nearly 5.85 million, the ISA data showed. Overall, the ISA said the Vietnamese life insurance segment recorded a five-year record high in terms of total premiums, total value of new business (VONB) and number of contracts signed in the first two months of the year. The ISA report revealed that the industry’s growth…

USA – Avon Products, the 129-year-old cosmetics empire that directly sells beauty products, seemed to have lost its appeal a little bit in the first quarter of this year after reporting revenue drop of 18 percent. Among the reasons cited for the first-quarter revenue fall are the strong dollar and the continued struggles in the North American segment, the Wall Street Journal reported. But Chief Executive Sheri McCoy said the revenue result for the first three months of the year was inline with Avon’s expectations. “Overall, the first quarter was in line with our expectations despite currency pressures that were…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The central bank of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has issued an advisory to inform the public on the extent of authority of external collection agencies to offer and approve debt restructuring of credit card. The BSP issued the advisory in response to the complaints and inquiries received by the BSP’s Financial Consumer Protection Department involving credit card debt restructuring. Credit card issuers, in the course of their business, refer problem credit card accounts to accredited external agencies for collection. “However, accounts referred to collection agents which are restructured often result in complaints on unfair…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Crown Asia Chemicals Corporation, a plastic compounds and pipe producers, was able to raise Php222.8 million (USD5 million) from its initial public offering (IPO), the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said in a statement on its website. Crown Asia, listed under the stock symbol “CROWN”, concluded its IPO by listing its shares at the PSE on 27 April. Based in Guiguinto, Bulacan, Crown Asia manufactures and sells plastic compounds and synthetic resins for making construction materials such as tubes and pipes. “The company’s primary businesses, whether it be the compounds business or the pipes, are really an enabler,…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Philippne President Benigno S. Aquino III will meet with Filipino communities when he goes to the United States and Canada on the second week of May, the Office of the President said. The report said that Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Andrelita Austria revealed that the President will have a one-day working visit in Chicago on May 6, before travelling to Canada on a state visit from May 7 to 9. “We want to look at this visit as covering three basic points: first, is to reciprocate the visit made by the Prime Minister of Canada to the…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The central bank of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has issued an advisory to inform the public on the extent of authority of external collection agencies to offer and approve debt restructuring of credit card. The BSP issued the advisory in response to the complaints and inquiries received by the BSP’s Financial Consumer Protection Department involving credit card debt restructuring. Credit card issuers, in the course of their business, refer problem credit card accounts to accredited external agencies for collection. “However, accounts referred to collection agents which are restructured often result in complaints on unfair…

After releasing a report in March that said the amount of bitcoin trading activity in China has risen, Goldman Sachs is co-leading a USD50 million investment round in bitcoin wallet firm Circle Internet Financial. The investment was what the bitcoin world badly needed to boost its credibility as an online currency and possibly the future of online money. In an announcement Wednesday night, Goldman sachs said confirmed co-leading the financing round but did not offer further details about its decision to invest in Circle, which was started in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire. Circle is one of a small group of…

TOKYO – Japan’s central bank the Bank of Japan (BOJ), has decided to hold off on expanding monetary stimulus during a board meeting in Tokyo on Thursday. The BOJ board members decided to keep its plan to expand the monetary base at an JPY80 trillion (USD673 billion) annual pace after voting 8 1. The lone opposition to the decision, board member Takahide Kiuchi, urged the BOJ to cut its purchases of government bonds and risky assets to JPY45 trillion annually instead of keeping the monetary base. Later today, the BOJ is expected to present updated inflation and growth forecasts, followed…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – A survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that the number of unemployed Filipinos dropped in the first quarter of this year, the lowest under President Benigno Aquino III’s administration. The SWS survey, which was conducted from 20 March to 23 March involving 1,200 respondents, discovered that unemployment rate in the Philippines dropped from 27 percent, or 12.4 million Filipinos, in the quarter ending December to 19.1 percent or 9 million in March. The survey considers unemployed Filipinos as those who are 18 years old and above without a job and also looking for ajob. SWS…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – President Benigno S. Aquino III would like Sarangani Representative and Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao to seriously consider retiring from boxing after his upcoming fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The Chief Executive made the statement on Tuesday during an interview with members of the Philippine media delegation covering his participation in the recently concluded 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here. “I’m very confident that he will do our countrymen proud as he has always done. Of course, I go back to my perpetual message, continued fighting in the ring does not promote good health,”…

NEPAL – As rescuers scramble against time to rescue those who are still trapped inside collapsed buildings in Nepal, economists said the massive earthquake that hit the country last Saturday could cost USD2 billion in economic losses. The death toll in the earthquake has already passed 3,500 as of Tuesday and thousands more are still missing, Nepalese authorities said. More than the human loss due to the earthquake, the country will have to brace for the economic losses brought about by the massive tremor. Kinetics Analysis Corp said the country stands to lose about USD2 billion from the earthquake and…

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned the public against a fraudulent website that claims to be the official site of Dah Sing Bank Ltd (DSB). The website, dahsingbankonline.com, was still up despite the warning from the Hong Kong authority as of this posting. The site carries photos of DSB banks and even provide press releases and regulatory disclosures. It also features electronic application form and has a page for electronic banking. “The DSB has clarified taht it has no connection with the fraudulent website,” the HKMA said in a statement posted on its website. Anyone…

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has announced the appointment of Mod Adhari Belal Din as assistant governor, in addition to his function as strategic human capital department director. In a statement released on Tuesday, Bank Negara said Mohd Adhari’s appointment, which will take effect on 1 May, means he will be tasked for strategic management, human capital development center, IT services and strategic human capital departments. Prior to his appointment, Adhari served as the Director of the Strategic Human Capital Department as well as the Strategic Management and Risk Management Departments. Before joining Bank…

JAKARTA, INDONESIA – South Korea’s first life insurance company, Hanwha Life Insurance, is seeking to hire 650 new financial consultants in Indonesia within this year to double its existing number of consultants in the country. Aside from hiring new consultants, Hanwha Life Insurance, an affiliate of chemicals-to-finance conglomerate Hanwha Group, also aims to open new outlets in Indonesia and further offer services to the local banking industry. Hanwha currently has 650 local financial consultants and five outlets in the country. “We will strengthen our presence in emerging markets which have a huge growth potential, even if it takes time. This…

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Only 15 percent of residents in Boston and 18.9 percent of the entire Massachusetts residents reported support for the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a recent survey showed. The result of the new survey showed that support for the death penalty for Tsarnaev has decreased from the September 2013 Boston Globe survey, which showed that 33 percent of residents in Massachusetts support death penalty for the bomber. The new survey result, however, does not necessarily mean that residents in Massachusetts have already forgiven Tsarnaev. Frank Perullo, president of Sage Systems LLC,…