ASEAN plans to adopt an ‘ASEAN bank’ system

Central banks in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plan to set up an “ASEAN bank” system that would make it easier for designated banks to set up subsidiaries and operate throughout the region, according to official sources. The plan to set up ASEAN banks is part of a wider roadmap to integrate the region’s financial markets in line with ASEAN’s goal to create an economic community by 2015. ASEAN central bank governors are expected to discuss the initiative at meetings to be held on the sidelines of the ASEAN finance ministers meeting in Phnom Penh later this month. The banks to be selected are required to be headquartered within ASEAN, financially sound and already operating in the region. “If accepted, a bank can have a license automatically from the 10 member countries,” an official source said. “The ultimate goal is to promote financial market integration, one of the core ideas of the ASEAN Economic Community.” For the plan to be successfully implemented, ASEAN countries will probably have to narrow the gap in the stage of development of financial markets in the region. … ASEAN central bank governors will gather in Phnom Penh for a series of meetings that start with the ASEAN Central Bank Forum on March 26, culminating in a meeting of ASEAN central bank governors March 29. Central bank governors from Cambodia, Indonesia and Brunei will also take part in the ASEAN finance ministers’ meeting to be held March 30.

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