Thailand Financial News

Shinsei Bank, Limited (Shinsei Bank) has concluded an Operational Alliance Agreement with Towa Bank, Ltd. (Towa Bank) (Representative Director and President, Kunimitsu Yoshinaga). The two banks agreed to mutually cooperate in developing and promoting high value-added financial products and services, as listed below, which are offered to Towa Bank customers.

In November 2007, Towa Bank announced its “Plan Phoenix,” with the aim of contributing to the Japan’s regional economy through the provision of loans and high-quality financial services.
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HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited’s Changsha Branch officially opens today (February 28), making HSBC the first foreign bank to enter China’s central Hunan Province, of which Changsha is the capital. With the new branch, the Bank’s Mainland network now encompasses 62 outlets including 17 branches and 45 sub-branches across 17 major cities, with a total staff complement of more than 4,800 people.

Richard Yorke, President and Chief Executive Officer of HSBC China, said: “Growing our geographic footprint is an important part of our China strategy.
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Fitch Ratings has said that the Pakistani banking system has, over the last decade, gradually evolved from a weak state-owned system to a slightly healthier and active private sector driven system. The agency notes in an upcoming special report that the private sector controls nearly 80% of the system assets, as opposed to the early 1990s when 90% of the system assets were controlled by the government.

The Pakistani banking system is made of 53 banks, which includes 30 commercial banks, four specialised banks, six Islamic banks, seven development financial institutions and six micro-finance banks.
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The overall outlook for the ratings of Dutch banks remains stable, reflecting the sector’s sound financial condition, the low risk profiles of the major banks and a robust regulatory environment but also a relatively low level of profitability, says Moody’s Investors Service in its new Banking System Outlook for the Netherlands.
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KYOWA RECEIVES… TOKYO - Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. (President: Dr. Yuzuru Matsuda) announced that Kyowa Pharmaceutical, Inc. (New Jersey, United States), its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, received on February 25, 2008 (local time) a Not approvable letter from the U.S.
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Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF) reports results for the year 2007, with sales of Baht 134,809 million. Net profit was reported of Baht 1,276 million or Baht 0.18 per shares.   CPF also declared dividends for the year at Baht 0.085 per share.  The share registrar book will be closed on 3 April 2008 while the XD date is on 31 March 2008.
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KTC and Big Camera target the shutter-happy crowd with “KTC-Big Camera VISA Platinum credit card”.   The focus is on value and privileges.  15,000 members expected in the first year. For more information:

Public and Corporate Affairs Department
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Thailand’s association of capital market academy alumni (ACMA) has proposed the “3 pronged approaches – 7 policies – 17 measures” initiative on capital market development to the Thai finance minister which, if incorporated into national economic policy, would enable the Thai capital market to become the country’s main economic driver.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Surapong Suebwonglee chaired the seminar, Thai Capital Market and its challenges ahead, which was organized by ACMA and The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
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The ratings on fewer issuers were positioned to migrate to investment grade from speculative grade in mid February compared with a month ago, according to an article published today by Standard & Poor’s. (Global potential rising stars are defined as entities that are currently rated ‘BB+’ with either a positive outlook or with ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications.) The article, which is titled “Global Potential Rising Stars,” says that meanwhile, the count of entities poised to cross over in the reverse direction (potential fallen angels) was appreciably higher: 44.

As of Feb.
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Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC), a leading independent global financial services and payments consultancy, announced today that David Dee has been promoted to Director. Mr. Dee serves EDC’s Asia Pacific clients from its Sydney office. Mr. Dee is an expert in the Asia Pacific arena of retail banking and payments with a focus on data driven marketing strategies and profitability analysis that leverages transaction and consumer behavioural data.
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