The Philippines banking sector has strengthened significantly in recent years, tracking general economic trends and benefitting from prudent measures put into place over time to boost capital and improve supervision, corporate governance and transparency. The local institutions that emerged from the late 1990s are stable and more wary of excessive risk and asset-liability imbalances. The...
Asia Financial Services
Displaying 835 - 840 of 1126
Chapter | Trade & Investment from The Report: Philippines 2014
For a number of years the Philippines worked hard to lower tariff rates, with the average weighted tariff applied falling from 22.4% in 1989 to a low of 2.6% in 2003. However, rates have begun to creep up again. The Philippines is actively considering a number of liberalisations to better align itself with the more open of its regional peers and to better integrate itself with the global economy...
Insurers in Brunei Darussalam are aiming to increase penetration rates in a number of key segments of their industry, looking to boost growth in what is already a highly competitive operating environment. However, to do so they will likely need to lift the sector’s profile among their potential client base.
Lenders in Thailand are expected to adopt a cautious position in the coming months, keeping a close watch on household debt levels and monitoring the local economy’s return to growth following a contraction earlier this year.
Lenders in the Philippines are readying themselves for a further tightening of regulatory oversight, with the requirements of Basel III, as adapted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank, due to come into effect at the beginning of next year. While the transition is not expected to be overly burdensome, the cost of greater security could be a short-term dip in profits.
The collapse of a leading Mongolian bank has underscored both the weaknesses and strengths of the banking system, with an apparent failure of corporate governance prompting a swift reaction from regulatory authorities.