Philippines Mandates 30-Day Grace on Loans During Covid-19 Lockdown

02/04/2020

All lenders are barred from charging interest, penalties, fees, or other charges on all loans to individuals, households, MSMEs and corporate borrowers during Luzon’s enhanced community quarantine.

Securities / Derivatives

CSRC Starts Accepting Licence Applications from US Fund Managers

02/04/2020

BlackRock and Neuberger Berman applications to set up wholly-owned mutual fund units were accepted on the first day foreign ownership caps were scrapped in China.

APRA, RBA Announce Changes to Financial Firms’ Reporting Obligations

02/04/2020

The agencies are standardising quarterly reporting due dates, deferring two reporting initiatives, and introducing a new reporting standard for SME lending.

NZ Banks Get Government Guarantee on New Loans

02/04/2020

Business loans under a new NZ$6.25bn scheme will be supported by a government guarantee on 80% of the loan amount.

Securities / Derivatives

India Further Opens Bond Market to Non-resident Investors

02/04/2020

The RBI has fully opened certain categories of government securities to non-resident investors and raised the FPI limit for investment in corporate bonds.

Market Infrastructure

Australia Tightens Foreign Investment Rules, Citing National Interest

02/04/2020

Federal approval is now required for all proposed foreign investments regardless of value or the nature of the foreign investors.

Capital / Liquidity

China: State Council to Bolster Financial Support for SMEs

01/04/2020

The new measures will include another RRR cut, $141bn in re-lending and re-discounting quotas, and new bond issuances to exclusively support SME loans.

AML / KYC

FATF Encourages Technology Use to Address Covid-19 Challenges

01/04/2020

Criminals and terrorists may seek to exploit gaps and weaknesses in national AML/CFT systems, under the assumption that resources are focused elsewhere, the FATF says.

S. Korea: Financial Sector Delivers Relief for Small Business

01/04/2020

Financial institutions are providing loan maturity extensions, interest payment deferment and low-cost loans to small business hit by Covid-19.