News

ANZ is facing calls for compensation over its funding of a Cambodian sugar mill linked to child labour, forced evictions and land grabs. Media reports on Monday said hundreds of Cambodian farmers had called on the bank to provide compensation for the land they lost due ...

ANZ’s financing of ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat’s controversial sugar plantation has come under fire once again, this time in an investigation by NGO Oxfam into Australia’s big four banks and their links to rights abuses in developing countries. In a report titled “Banking on ...

First Sum Tea lost her farm. Then she lost her son. Sum Tea is one of hundreds of farmers who lost her small landholding in 2006 when the Cambodian government granted Phnom Penh Sugar, a company owned by Cambodian tycoon and ruling party senator Ly Yong ...

Executives from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) and local partner Royal Group of Companies (RGC) both went into damage control yesterday after comments by ANZ chief executive officer Mike Smith suggesting the joint banking venture between the two was on the rocks. Royal ...

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, the country’s third-biggest lender, is keen to exit its holding in Cambodia and will look at wholly owned business models wherever regulations allow. “We got out of a relationship, a small relationship, in Vietnam. We would like to ...

Deposit and loans at major commercial banks have continued to climb over the first half of this year, industry officials say. Grant Knuckey, chief executive officer of ANZ Royal Bank, said yesterday that ANZ continues to see strong growth in trade finance led by the agricultural ...

While Cambodia seeks to diversify its manufacturing sector and encourage higher-value-added activities, experts say it must be supported by the right mix of government policies. The Asia Development Bank (ADB) says that the sharp increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) from $900 million in 2011 to ...

ANZ chief executive Mike Smith says Cambodia should decouple the riel from the US dollar to a stand-alone currency and align itself to the Chinese renminbi (RMB), given the shift in global trade flows. At the Cambodia Outlook Conference in Phnom Penh yesterday, Smith said: “I ...

INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the Washington-based World Bank, has invested $US805 million ($770m) in Australian projects around the world These projects are in 24 countries and in sectors ranging from financial services to infrastructure. IFC is an investor in three Macquarie Group-sponsored infrastructure ...

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) would consider selling some of its stakes in Asian banks if Australia does not ease stringent capital requirements, chief executive Mike Smith said on Wednesday. The plan raises questions about how Australia’s smallest ‘Big Four’ bank will meet the ...

ANZ Royal Bank chief executive Damian Bell has resigned from the post he held for not much more than a month, a company spokeswoman confirmed yesterday. He resigned “several weeks ago”, Libby Armstrong, a Hong Kong-based ANZ spokeswoman, said by phone. No explanation was offered for ...

A group of highly organized criminals have been installing devices into ATMs around Cambodia capable of copying card details and stealing thousands of dollars of cash from customer bank accounts. Canadia Bank and ANZ are among the banks that have been targeted by the gang, who ...

Refresh Mobile yesterday announced the purchase of mobile banking outfit WING from Australia’s ANZ, although the amount of the deal was not released. WING will join Refresh’s stable of electronic payment and cell phone top-up services, in addition to soon offering overseas mobile remittance capabilities, Refresh ...

The government has brought into force a new law that makes all illegal payments to officials punishable by up to 15 years in jail for those who accept such payments and up to 10 years for those who make payments. Im Oudom, a member of ...

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce re-elected Royal Group chairman Kith Meng for his second three-year term as president yesterday. The presidents of 11 provincial chambers of commerce voted for Mr Meng, who is also president of the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce. ...

ANZ Royal Bank is seeking a larger part in handling transitions involving the Chinese yuan as the currency becomes more prevalent. Exports who bill their clients in yuan are being granted tax rebates of between 15 and 18 percent by the Chinese government. A service ...