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Periodic Essay
Indian banks tap markets
Periodic Essay
China’s interest rate liberalization reform
This Asia Focus report explains the importance of interest rate liberalization in China, reviews historical progress and current efforts made to date, and discusses the potential impact on the banking sector.
Periodic Essay
Foreign banks' new China strategy
Periodic Essay
Basel II implementation in Asia
This Asia Focus report examines Basel II implementation in Asian economies and discusses key issues and challenges facing Asian banks and regulators.
Periodic Essay
How Digital Innovation Can Increase Small Business Access to Finance in Asia
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a key contributor to economic activity around the world as an important source of jobs, growth, and innovation. Despite their essential role, SMEs receive a disproportionately small share of credit from the financial system, a trend that persists across developed and developing countries, including in Asia. This paper summarizes the SME credit gap in Asia and assesses ways certain emerging technologies and innovative business models?commonly known as ?fintech??can improve SME access to financial services in Asia and boost long-term economic ...
Periodic Essay
Microfinance in the Philippines
This Asia Focus report reviews the growth of the Philippines microfinance industry and discusses the implications of commercial banks entering this market.
Periodic Essay
Burma – paving the road to a modern banking system
This Asia Focus report provides a historical background of Burmese banking crises, analyzes recent and upcoming regulatory reforms, and evaluates hurdles to the development of a modern banking system.
Periodic Essay
The rise of Asian sovereign wealth funds
This Asia Focus provides an overview of sovereign wealth funds, evaluates the structure and activities of major funds in Asia, and compares the transparency of Asian funds relative to international best practices.
Periodic Essay
Mobile banking in Asia
Technology has transformed the banking industry with the introduction of mobile banking services that offer unprecedented convenience and accessibility to customers. This Asia Focus report describes the various approaches to mobile banking in Asia, and examines how particular countries have addressed regulatory issues.
Periodic Essay
Rural banking in China
This Asia Focus report presents an overview of Chinas rural banking system, historical and recent reforms, and additional areas for improvement.