Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
Lifetime achievement award: Zeti Akhtar Aziz
Zeti has played a crucial role in efforts to modernise Malaysia’s financial system, and has worked tirelessly to promote Islamic finance, financial inclusion and South-east Asian integration.
Asia’s Basel III woes
New bank capital rules are bridling Association of Southeast Asian Nations banks with regulations tailored to European and American risk profiles, and may be contributing to a slowdown in growth
Repeat of Asian crisis ‘unlikely’, say Singapore bank chiefs
Policy-makers are responding more proactively to risks than in 1997, they say, while economies are seen as much stronger
MAS takes step to facilitate capital sourcing across Asean jurisdictions
Singapore central bank issues implementation handbook with Thai and Malaysian regulators for firms looking to raise capital in other Asean countries
Zeti stresses need for good data in promoting financial inclusion
Bank Negara Malaysia governor says better data helps put pressure on countries to improve financial inclusion; offers guidance on how to improve performance
Central bank business school will foster Malaysia's future leaders, says Zeti
Bank Negara governor talks to Central Banking about the joint initiative with MIT to set up a school on its premises; says other central banks have shown interest
Singapore MD imagines gleaming future for island state
Ravi Menon delivers a speech looking back from an imagined 2065, highlighting the potential of both Singapore and the wider South-east Asian economy
Zeti urges central banks to ‘call the shots' on financial regulation
Bank Negara Malaysia governor makes the case for giving central banks regulatory powers over financial markets during Central Banking interview
Top Thai regulator advises Asean neighbours to open markets slowly
Bank of Thailand regulatory policy director warns Laos and Vietnam liberalisation could cripple their banks if conducted too quickly
Research promotes regional approach to financial stability in Asean
IMF working paper says it is ‘equally important’ as regulatory harmonisation; sees potential for vulnerabilities as countries with lower credit-to-GDP ratios catch up with their neighbours
Asean central banks to improve settlement transparency
Members of the Asean Central Banks’ Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems adopt principles to improve transparency for cross-border trade settlements
Zeti: Greater financial integration will boost growth potential in South East Asia
Greater financial integration in the Asean economies will help channel funds towards ‘productive’ investment, says Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz
Malaysian banks working on a Swift rulebook for Islamic transactions
A Swift rulebook ‘will provide an efficient platform for the exchange of messages for Islamic finance transactions’, says governor of Bank Negara Malaysia
Amro revamped in agreement struck at IMF meetings
Macroeconomic Research Office will become an international organisation when agreement is ratified, 'contributing further to regional financial stability'
Emerging Asia must reform to keep growing, says IMF research
China and India have recently exhibited a decline in total factor production growth; demographic factors will be more supportive in India and some Asean economies than in China
Asia faces increasingly complex risk, says MAS assistant managing director
Ng Nam Sin says insurers face both growing opportunities and increasingly large, complex and interconnected risks; Asean committee will help promote co-operation
Asean pioneers lay foundation for economic union with capital markets move
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore press ahead with capital markets integration in bid to jump-start Asian Economic Community
Asean report maps road to financial integration
Key to achieving an Asean Economic Community will be capital account and financial services liberalisation; member states should integrate at their own pace, to avoid EMU-style crises
IMF paper analyses ‘prolonged decline’ in Asian investment
Paper finds investment is suffering from the financial constraints facing non-tradable sector; proposes widening forms of credit available to small and medium-sized enterprises
Malaysia’s Zeti issues guidance to pan-Asean aspirational banks
As banks develop pan-Asean business models in line with the region’s push towards economic integration, Malaysia’s governor outlines business practices expected to secure favourable market access
Market-based funding growing in South-east Asia, says MAS chairman
Tharman Shanmugaratnam says prospects for non-bank capital funding are growing in South-east Asia
Asian central banks have ‘positive’ record with dual mandates, says former BoT deputy
Bandid Nijathaworn says combined monetary and macro-prudential policy mandates have worked well in Asia; Asean+3 credit guarantee set to boost region’s corporate bond market
Cambodian governor highlights divergence in developing financial systems
Chea Chanto sets out ways in which South-east Asian central banks’ financial and banking systems differ; calls for regional development to catch up with international standards
Single Asian currency not on the agenda, says Bank of Thailand chief
Bank of Thailand governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul rules out likelihood of Asia moving towards a common currency, but says renminbi may become dominant currency