HSBC expands SME support
HSBC has opened a flagship business centre in Hong Kong to support the growing financial services needs of local small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). The new centre is located in the HSBC main building in Central and provides trade, cash management, financing, investment, insurance and company account services.
"As the gateway of mainland China, Hong Kong is a place full of international business opportunities," said Albert Chan, Hong Kong head of HSBC commercial bank, in a statement. "In the first quarter of this year, we recorded a 25% increase in customers with international banking needs on a year-on-year basis. On the business front, we have continued to generate strong growth for our business banking segment." He added that during the first five months of the year, SME lending rose 42% and deposits 22% compared to 2009; trade services rose 82%.
According to HSBC's global small business confidence monitor, about 52% of local SMEs are engaged in international business and 58% are planning to be international within the next two years.
Standard Chartered promotes financial ties between UAE and the world
Standard Chartered Bank has launched a connectivity programme to promote trade ties between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the rest of the world. The bank has sent delegations to the UK and US to promote business in the emirate and created dedicated Chinese and Korean language speaking teams in its Dubai office to cater to clients from those countries looking at opportunities in the Gulf.
"The connectivity programme was created to leverage opportunities arising from the shift in financial and economic power from the West to eastern markets," said Hassan Jarrar, UAE head of origination and client coverage at Standard Chartered, in a statement. "The global financial crisis opened up a realm of opportunities for both local and international entities. We are of the view that the recent challenges have changed the way corporates operate. We will see greater integration of regions and the establishing of treasury centres in key economic corridors within emerging markets."
In addition to building trade ties, Jarrar said the bank is in discussions with several multinational companies that are interested in opening central treasuries in the UAE.
Reval wins Dunedin City Treasury mandate
Reval, a web-based financial solutions provider from New York, was selected by Dunedin City Treasury to help the council of Dunedin City, New Zealand manage its treasury operations. It chose Reval's software-as-a-service solution to address the risk, valuation and accounting requirements for the management of commodities, foreign exchange and interest rates.
"Reval enables us to perform and record all our treasury tasks with one system," said John Knight, Dunedin City Treasury chief executive, in a statement. "We needed a system that allowed us to record investments and borrowings both short-term and long-term as well as one that enabled effectiveness testing and reporting."
Mumbai goes live on Swift
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) went live with Swift for corporate actions last week. The solution allows the exchange's more than 4,900 listed companies to process actions with improved levels of transparency and automation.
"Swift's solution will give custodians access to high-quality data on corporate actions," said Madhu Kannan, BSE's managing director and chief executive, in a statement. "There is a lot of interest in the international arena for corporation actions data from India, and I believe the potential for this tie up is quite high."
Swift for corporate actions is currently available for stock splits, dividends and bonus; meetings and rights are planned to go live by the end of the month.
US Ex-Im pre-approves Indonesian banks for finance facility
The Export-Import Bank of the US (US Ex-Im) has pre-approved 11 Indonesian banks for a $1 billion financing facility to aid trade between the countries. Bank Central Asia, Bank CIMB-Niaga, Bank Danamon, Indonesia Eximbank, Bank International Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank OCBC Indonesia, Panin Bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank UOB Buana will all receive funds under the facility.
"With its diverse and growing economy, Indonesia offers great opportunities for US exporters in many sectors," said Fred P Hochberg, US Ex-Im chairman and president, in a statement. "This bank facility will enable Indonesian companies to access US Ex-Im backed financing from their local banks and help US Ex-Im approve these transactions more quickly."
The bank facility will support short-, medium- and long-term US export repayment terms.
The export credit agency recently signed a loan facility with the Vietnamese government to aid US exports to Vietnam.
