Foreign news: Coconut Bank for sale, calls to accept ring-fencing rules, GABV expands membership

Twelve overseas and local financial firms have expressed interest in buying shares in the Philippines' United Coconut Planters Bank, in a deal that should fetch over US$350 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Philippine Government owns almost 74 per cent of the bank. The first bids are due by September 18.
Lloyds Banking Group's Chief Executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, called for British banks to accept new rules designed to protect their domestic retail customers from riskier parts of their operations. Reuters reports some senior bankers believe other regulatory changes and structural reforms already underway within banks have made the need for ring-fencing redundant. Lloyds, Britain's biggest retail bank, is less affected by the new rules than some of its rivals, because the vast majority of its activities will sit within the ring-fenced operation.
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values has signed up three new members - Swedish bank Ekobanken and two US banks, City First Bank of DC and Southern Bancorp. GABV, which was founded in 2009, has about 30 members (bankmecu is the only Australian member). Members must adhere to the Alliance's values-based banking principles, which include serving communities in which financial institutions operate by financing sustainable businesses, helping safeguard the environment and maintaining a high degree of transparency.