Due to innovations in financial technology and changes in the enabling environment, the number of financially excluded adults across Asia and the Pacific has dropped to about 1 billion.
Increased access to affordable financial services can be a lever for Asians to smooth consumption, manage risk and improve their lives through better savings options, access to credit, and cheaper payments or remittances.
The South African retail banking sector is characterised by high barriers to entry. The sector is concentrated, with four of the largest banks – Standard Bank, Absa, First National Bank and Nedbank – accounting for more than 80% of retail deposits.
The four largest banks in South Africa – Absa, First National Bank, Standard Bank and Nedbank – recently announced they would unilaterally close the bank accounts of companies associated with the Gupta family in South Africa.
Early in the financial crisis, the US forced all large banks to take an infusion of capital. This helped put a floor under the US financial system. Regulators and stakeholders encouraged US banks to address the significant nonperforming loan problem.
Barclays has announced it is to withdraw from Africa. It will gradually reduce its 62% stake in Barclays Africa Group over the next two to three years – and, naturally, this raises questions about the prospects for banking in Africa, where Barclays has had a presence since 1925.
Bernie Sanders has proposed bringing back postal banking to save millions of unbanked Americans from the clutches of payday lenders.
HSBC’s decision to keep its headquarters in London is good news for the British government. An exit would have been seen as a vote of no confidence by one of the world’s major financial institutions. However, it is even better news for the British economy.
Reports indicating that Italy is close to establishing a bad bank prompted one wag to ask if Italy does not already have enough. The country may be better served by setting up a good bank.
The sharp sell-off in shares of Italian banks this year is an important driver of G7-leading 12.4% slide in the local bourse this year.
The knock-on effects of the meltdown in Chinese shares and the tension among major Middle East rivals are dominating the re-opening of the global capital markets after the New Year holiday. The US dollar has recouped its earlier losses against the euro, sterling and the Swiss franc, and remains broadly higher against the Antipodean currencies.
A financial institution specializing in student loans received a fine as well as orders to cease operations for lying to students about fees and costs associated with their offerings.
