The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted substantial impact on the profitability of banks in Asia Pacific, although most are better positioned to weather this crisis than during the global financial crisis

With 41% of China's $45 trillion in banking assets and 27% of its $30 trillion in loans exposed to the property market, authorities are likely to initiate an orderly distribution of distressed assets of real estate developers such as Evergrande that failed to meet the “three red lines” limit on debt liabilities. Leveraged expansion sabotaged Evergrande’s sustainability while profit from property development shrunk for three consecutive years.

Despite weak growth in the banking industry last year, UOB managed to grow its SME deposits significantly and reported the lowest CIR among its peers. It was also the first bank to announce $2.2 billion in relief assistance in February 2020, ahead of any government support measures. It was the leading provider in government’s assistance schemes to SMEs with the largest market share.

The use of RMB in international transactions will increase despite US-China trade frictions and on-going COVID-19 pandemic according to the latest annual survey on RMB internationalisation conducted jointly by China Construction Bank and Asian Banker Research.

President Xi Jinping’s pet project – “The Belt and Road Initiative” – aims to link Asia, Europe and Africa by rewriting global trade routes. With such a big project, China’s accompanying motivations are also enormous. Be it on an economic, political or strategic-level, the project is sold almost as a catch-all solution.

DBS Group’s retail and wealth business has been accelerating income generation since 2013. However, the bank continues to face an uphill struggle with some of its overseas retail markets.

Innovations emerging from East and West African banking hubs are enabling the sector to take a lead in reaching Africa’s unbanked population but much remains to be done.

Al Rajhi Bank retained the top spot in the rankings of the largest and the strongest Islamic banks in the world. Malaysia had the most Islamic banks on the list, while Saudi Arabia held the largest share of total assets

Asia Pacific banking sector delivered better-than-expected profitability and reduced NPLs in FY2021.The strongest banks in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore ranked among the top 10 strongest banks in the region

Saudi National Bank, the third largest bank in the Middle East and Africa, achieved solid profitability. National Bank of Egypt overtook Standard Bank Group as the largest bank in Africa and it fared well in asset quality, capitalisation and liquidity

Al Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia remains the leading global Islamic bank, with Middle Eastern counterparts surpassing Asian ones in scale and profitability, while Asian Islamic banks exhibit stronger asset quality

The majority of institutions surveyed attribute their increased Renminbi usage to China’s investments and partnerships facilitated by the Belt and Road Initiative