Securities / Derivatives

Philippine SEC Moves to Protect Minority Shareholders from Abuse

20/04/2020

Asset sales representing 51% of total assets will require approval from two-thirds of shareholders; minority shareholders will be able to call meetings and add agenda items.

ESG / Sustainability

MAS Launches New Facility to Pump Cheap Loans to SMEs

20/04/2020

“Banks and finance companies will be able to make more loans to SMEs and at lower cost – in fact, we expect them to do so,” said MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon.

Market Infrastructure

PBOC Cuts Bank Lending Rates to Offset Covid-19 Pressures

20/04/2020

Policymakers said on Friday that monetary policies should make full use of RRR cuts, interest rate reductions and relending, indicating a shifting stance after GDP shrank 6.8% in Q1.

Market Infrastructure

FSB Consults on Cyber Incident Response and Recovery Toolkit

20/04/2020

The toolkit lists 46 effective practices, structured across seven components: governance, preparation, analysis, mitigation, restoration, improvement, and coordination and communication.

AML / KYC

SFC Fines BOCOM International Securities for “Serious” Breaches

20/04/2020

The brokerage did not have effective controls to identify third party deposits, and “extensive deficiencies” were found in its handling of margin lending and margin calls.

Capital / Liquidity

UPDATED – MSME Loans Can Be Counted Towards Reserve Requirements: BSP

20/04/2020

Loans granted to MSMEs can be counted as part of banks’ compliance with reserve requirements. Detailed guidelines will be issued in due course.

Securities / Derivatives

Bursa Malaysia Raises Share Issue Limits, Extends Filing Deadlines

20/04/2020

Listed issuers are allowed to increase the general mandate threshold for new securities issues from the existing 10% to 20% of the total number of issued shares.

Capital / Liquidity

S. Korea Eases Capital, Liquidity, Asset Quality Rules for FIs

20/04/2020

The FSC expects the regulatory relaxations will boost financial institutions’ capacity to provide up to 400 trillion won in additional financing to businesses.

Fintech / Regtech

PBOC Launches Digital Yuan Pilot Tests in Four Cities – Reports

20/04/2020

Four state-owned banks and three telecom companies, along with Tencent and Alipay, are all said to be involved in the development of the digital currency.