Singapore’s strategic location in Asia is proving a boon to the city state’s transaction bankers, particularly as they seek to capture banking business from the world’s changing trade flows.

The banking industry in Asia is dynamic, with a number of mergers and acquisitions shifting the competitive landscape for the region’s players. As global financial institutions are rethinking their strategies, and China’s behemoth banks are preoccupied with a massive domestic market, Asian regional banks are being presented with a window of opportunity.

The banking industry in Asia is dynamic, with a number of mergers and acquisitions shifting the competitive landscape for the region’s players. As global financial institutions are rethinking their strategies, and China’s behemoth banks are preoccupied with a massive domestic market, Asian regional banks are being presented with a window of opportunity.

As a large number of banks across the globe see the value of their brand slip for a second consecutive year, many financial institutions are seeing both positive and negative results of being associated with their country of origin, something that has worked out particularly well for Canadian banks.

Malaysia is going through a period of transformation as the government seeks to push the country to developed nation status. The ambitious economic goals, however, are being tested by events further afield and observers are questioning to what degree Malaysia’s growth will be impacted by the troubles of the eurozone. 

The increasing might of China over the past decade has not been reflected in its currency. In 2010, China's share of world trade was 11.4%, while the renminbi's share in world payments was a mere 0.24%. The currency's route to internationalisation look set to be more marathon than sprint.

Japan's banks recorded unremarkable increases in profitability and returns over the past year, yet the country's big players have maintained their prominence within the global rankings, suggesting that their disappointing performance is part of a wider global trend. But with the data from the months following the disasters of March 2011 yet to be revealed, the performance of Japan's banks could yet take a further hit.

The renminbi is on a path to becoming an international currency, and the first step of the journey is for the Chinese currency to be used to settle trade payments. As businesses begin to see the benefits of using renminbi for trade settlement, banks are competing to make their mark on this growing business.