Asia Financial Services

Although the industry remains somewhat crowded and highly competitive, a recent push for consolidation, including ongoing hikes in capital requirements, should keep the sector on a strong upwards trajectory in 2015 and beyond. The industry stayed resilient despite the destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, with double-digit increases in investments and assets in 2014. While the...

Despite having one of the oldest stock exchanges in Asia and a relatively advanced bourse for its level of economic development, the Philippines lags behind the leading South-east Asian exchanges. However, as domestic liquidity surged and foreign investors gradually returned after a general flight from emerging markets in 2013, the country’s capital markets were riding a wave of optimism in...

A positive feedback loop is at work in which banks are increasingly driving economic growth, supported by inflows of foreign investment and from Filipinos working abroad, while growing trust in the banking system is drawing greater volumes of savings. With real GDP roughly doubling between 1999 and 2014, bank deposits as a share of GDP also rose, from 40% in 1999 to 52% in 2014, while the...

While Myanmar’s banking sector has much to do in order to catch up to its neighbours, it should remain on track to expand rapidly as the economy grows and penetration deepens. Regulatory reforms will be key to expansion and foreign access. Elsewhere in the financial services sector, Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) is Myanmar’s fourth try at launching a securities market, but it is by far the most...

Islamic banking and insurance, or takaful, are becoming the dominant forms of banking and insurance, and inbound foreign investments are increasingly channelled into Islamic markets. The Sultanate’s largest bank is an Islamic lender, dominating the domestic market as well as developing into an international player in Islamic finance. The rise of takaful has been aided by strong support from...