INTRODUCTION
It has been more than a year since the emergence of COVID-19 which has impacted the world in an unprecedented way, ravaging not only the lives and livelihoods of many but also exacerbating the depth of disruption across traditional industries, with little visibility of what and when the “new norm” will be. Asia, which until earlier in the year seemed to have things under control, has since seen a reversal in the situation with India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and even Singapore seeing significant spikes in COVID-19 infections. The People’s Republic of China on the other hand has managed to contain case growth.
In August 2020, the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Research and Training Centre together with PIDM and Deloitte organised a webinar entitled “Navigating COVID-19: Fortifying Resilience in the Banking Sector” which highlighted a number of challenges facing the banking sector. A survey undertaken of the more than 500 participants who had joined the webinar, including regulators, bankers and professionals across Asia Pacific, had highlighted that asset quality deterioration across the SME and Retail lending segments would be the worst with most expecting recovery in 2-3 years. An overwhelming majority of them felt that this crisis was worse than the AFC and GFC.
Severity versus past crisis
Highest impact on Bank Performance
Bank Segments most affected
One year on, SEACEN in conjunction with the Pepper Group, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Finance Corporation (IFC), are organizing another high profiled APAC focused webinar which brings together various experts in the field who will share their views on the state of play in the banking sector, the key headwinds facing the industry, how digitalisation could help in this crisis, the resurgence of systemic resolution tools / bad banks in resolving NPLs and the importance of private sector involvement.
We have the privilege of having Mr. Tan Teck Long, Chief Risk Officer of DBS, in a keynote interview with Mr. Mike Culhane, CEO Pepper Group, sharing his views on the impact of the pandemic based on his past experiences in previous crises. In addition, we also have a senior cast of panelists such as Mr. Cesar Consing, former President of Bank of Philippines Island and Chairman of the Banker’s Association of Philippines; Mr. Anindo Mukherjee, COO Fullerton Financial Holdings; Mr. Neal Cross, former Chief Innovation Officer of DBS; all of whom will be joined by senior representatives from SSG Ares, Carval, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, ADB and Pepper.
Join us to hear first-hand from a c-suite of bankers, investors, technologists and experts from intergovernmental organizations, who will discuss and debate the issues impacting the regional banking sector and its recovery, as well as other practical considerations for the industry.
Please note that this event is free of charge.