Foreign news: BNY Mellon fined, 57 AIIB settled down, Indo bans foreign currency from domestic trans

Banking Day staff
  • The Bank of New York Mellon has been fined £126 million by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. Part of the group, including its London Branch, was found to have breached record keeping rules in relation to its "systemically important" role as a "custody bank" between November 2007 and August 2013. Among the worst breaches cited by the FCA: failing to take necessary steps to prevent safe custody assets being mixed up with other accounts, and on occasion using them to settle other clients' transactions without prior consent. The FCA said the bank agreed to settle at an early stage of its investigation, earning a 30 per cent discount on its penalty.

  • A total of 57 countries will be listed as founding members of the new Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China's finance ministry said earlier this week. Of these, 37 are Asian countries. On 23 March, Australia's membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was approved by the federal cabinet.

  • Indonesia's central bank has banned domestic transactions in foreign currencies in a bid to keep the stability of the rupiah. The Bank has issued a regulation, to take effect from 1 July, to control demand on US dollars and ease pressure on rupiah. The rupiah was the worst-performing currency in emerging Asia this year and has been trading at around its weakest level since August 1998. Reuters reports that Indonesia has banned cash transactions in foreign currencies since 2011, with offenders risking prison terms and fines.

  • Malaysia Building Society Bhd plans to become an Islamic financing bank in the next five years, Reuters reports. MBSB's chief executive, Ahmad Zaini, had planned to start the conversion earlier but was delayed while his bank and two others (CIMB Group Holdings and RHB Capital) considered a three-way mega bank merger. Currently, 83 per cent of MBSB's assets are Islamic assets.

  • Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission said banks have to increase their allowance for risk exposure when they extend credit and establish short term trade balances with Chinese banks. Banking Bureau head Chan Ting-chen said the maximum for each bank would be would be NT$1.2 billion to NT$1.3 billion (US$38.3 million to US$41.5 million). Mega International Commercial Bank, Taiwan Bank, CTBC Bank and Taipei Fubon Bank are the banks with the most frequent trade with Chinese banks.