Foreign news: Bank of Nova Scotia to bid for Citi assets, Bank Indonesia relaxes home lending rules,

Bank of Nova Scotia hopes to buy Citigroup's consumer banking unit in Panama and Costa Rica. Bloomberg reports that the sale may be valued at US$1.1 billion. Citigroup was in talks earlier this year with Spanish bank Banco Popular Espanol SA to sell its Central American retail business but the deal was dropped.
Bank Indonesia plans to reduce the required down payment for the purchase of first homes from 30 per cent to 20 per cent to encourage lending. The Jakarta Globe reports that lenders would be allowed to provide first-time buyers a home mortgage of up to 80 per cent of the purchase price for houses larger than 70 square meters.
Chinese investment in Australia may be hefty, but the financial sector is missing out. A study by KPMG Australia and the University of Sydney Business School and its China Studies Centre did not mention any investment into the finance sector for 2014. The report, Demystifying Chinese Investment in Australia, said Chinese investment in Australia fell nine per cent in the 2014 calendar year, from US$9.2 billion to US$8.4 billion. Investments were made in commercial real estate, agribusiness, mining, energy, manufacturing, leisure, retail and infrastructure.