BANKING NEWS

[halfway inn]

GOVERNMENT SAVINGS BANK

GSB president resigns after mass withdrawals



BANGKOK: -- The president of state-run Government Savings Bank (GSB) has tendered his resignation after facing pressure on his decision to lend Bt20 billion to the government's troubled rice-pledging scheme, which led to a rash of withdrawals by customers.

Woravit Chailimpamontri's resignation will be effective 30 days from yesterday.

Meanwhile, a group of businesspeople declared their support for the GSB, and some urged against using farmers as political pawns as they suffer from late payments under the rice-subsidy programme.

GSB's board of directors yesterday cancelled a loan of Bt20 billion to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and agreed to pull back a previous loan of Bt5 billion.

The board will ask the BAAC to respond to a report that it would use the loan to pay farmers who are in arrears under the rice-subsidy programme.

Worawit said after the meeting that he had handed his resignation to the board to show his responsibility on this matter.

"I took a few days to decide to resign from the post as a result of pressure," he said.

He said there was a level of distrust on whether he was a political tool of the government, running the bank to serve the government's policy.

Still, he insisted that lending to the BAAC did not violate any law.

The resignation was to show he was taking responsibility for the massive withdrawals the bank had endured as well as to restore confidence among clients and employees, he said.

Woravit took the helm in late 2012, succeeding Lersak Julates. There were three candidates for the post. Before joining the GSB, he was the president of Government Housing Bank.

Hundreds of GSB employees wearing black gathered yesterday morning at the bank's headquarters to demand Worawit's resignation.

GSB employees also urged the bank to suspend its lending to the rice project, which has been struggling to pay farmers since the government took on a caretaker role.

Meanwhile, a group of 10 businesspeople were seen yesterday at GSB headquarters, in a gesture to show their unabated confidence in the bank, which saw Bt30 billion withdrawn by customers on Monday.

Joining them were executives of state enterprises and Salinee Wangtal, an assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand who is chairwoman of the Deposit Protection Agency.

Wiwat Theekhakeereekul, chairman of Car Mart, claimed that this group of businesspeople deposited about Bt1 billion with the GSB yesterday to show their opposition to financial institutions and farmers being used as political pawns.

"We don't want a panic-driven bank run. Farmers are underprivileged and deserve sympathy, just as financial institutions do.

Everything can cause a chain reaction, and this could affect the business sector. I admit that I'm concerned with the current political situation," he said.

Sumet Damrongchaitham, president of Dhanarak Asset Development, a venture of the Finance Ministry, opened a new deposit account at GSB.

He said this should indicate that confidence in GSB remained as a major mechanism to help farmers.

He noted that any wrongdoers in the rice-pledging scheme should be punished, but for fairness farmers should be spared from this chaos.

Salinee bought additional savings tickets worth about Bt30,000 to express her confidence in the state-owned bank.

She noted that GSB remained a strong institution, without signs of a shortage of liquidity.

Asked whether withdrawals from GSB would pose a risk to the system, she said the situation was normal but would be closely monitored.

Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra blamed the delay in making payments under the rice-pledging scheme on anti-government demonstrations.

"I'm very upset, and apologise to all the farmers who are suffering from the delays.

The farmers are now in the middle of a political game being played by the protest leaders, who are refusing to follow the democratic and legal path.

They should feel sympathy for the farmers who work hard for the sake of the country," she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who is also the caretaker finance minister, has reaffirmed that the government has made all-out efforts to seek funds to pay the farmers in the rice-pledging scheme.

He agreed with Yingluck that the delay in the payments stemmed from the attempts to topple the government. He made a remark after meeting with some farmers who supported the pledging scheme.

Kittiratt added that he had considered that the farmers who had experienced late payments should be compensated with interest on the arrears.

He said he wanted to see the state-run banks supporting the government by providing credit lines to the farmers.

Meanwhile, thousands of farmers are scheduled to gather at the Commerce Ministry today at 8am to press for Yingluck's early resignation. After that, they plan to split up to march to other government agencies and block access to them.

Surasak Riangkrul, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the Commerce Ministry was able to sell about 600,000 tonnes of rice to 10 traders at a recent auction, which should generate an additional Bt20 billion. The money should be forwarded to the BAAC in short order for payment to farmers.

Caretaker Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Phuangrach said the ministry would meet today with farmer representatives and millers to discuss the overdue-payment problem and how to resolve it quickly.

A rice-miller source said millers planned to set up a fund to help farmers by using their pledging documents as a guarantee. About 100 millers could jointly set up the fund, with initial capital of about Bt200 million.


the nation(19-02-2014)

[halfway inn]

BOUNCED CHECKS

Bounced checks rise to highest in 20 months



BANGKOK: -- The Bank of Thailand said today that the number of bounced checks involving over 12.3 billion baht rose to over 76,600 checks, the highest in 20 months.

The central bank said that by January this year there are altogether 6.38 million checks in the banking system, up 12.16% as compared with the same period last year with total value of 3.2 trillion baht, or a decline of 98.4 billion baht.

But it said among the total checks in the system, there are 76,600 bounced checks, 15.06% or 10,000 checks higher than the same period .

The bounced checks worth altogether 12.3 billion baht, 20.35% or 2.07 billion baht higher than the same period last year, the highest in the past 20 months.

It said more than half or 40,800 bounced checks were issued by issuers in Bangkok and adjacent provinces with total value of 8.45 billion baht.

These bounced checks were expected to be issued by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which are running short of liquidity as the result of falling sales, cautious spending by households and stricter loan extension by commercial banks.


thai pbs(24-02-2014)

[halfway inn]

GLOBAL TAX LAW + FATCA

FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)

25-09-2014

All Thailand's Banks must now report American accounts with holdings over $50,000 directly to the IRS, and the consequences can be quite serious if the account holder isn't compliant with America's global tax law.

[halfway inn]

FOREIGNER'S BANK ACCOUNTS IN THAILAND

Inspection of foreigners' bank accounts in Thailand

...................

For Thailand, many foreign residents initially enter the country as tourists, and become so entranced that they decide to reside in Thailand permanently.

They prefer to live in big cities such as Bangkok, or in other provinces such as Phuket and Koh Samui, as well as northeastern provinces such as Ubon Ratchathani, where many foreigners have settled and married Thais.

Foreigners who wish to retire in Thailand must first obtain permission from the authorities before they can reside here, through obtaining a retirement visa, but the conditions for obtaining such permission are different.

An important condition for issuing a retirement visa to a foreign retiree, in addition that he/she must be 50 or over, is that he or she has to furnish financial evidence in Thailand either of money deposited with any bank in Thailand, whether in a fixed deposit or savings account, at a minimum amount of 800,000 baht, on the date of filing the application, or evidence that he or she has income from abroad with a pension or social security of at least 65,000 baht per month, or to have both money deposited and income from abroad of at least 800,000 baht altogether.

The applicant must furnish such evidence every year when the application for an extension of their stay is made.

For foreigners with Thai spouses, such conditions remain unchanged, but the amount required is reduced to 400,000 baht.

Foreign retirees who are permitted to reside here not only enable the country to receive the minimum amount of money set by the authorities for visa issuance, but also to obtain their savings remitted from abroad if they reside in Thailand, and are satisfied to stay for their retirement lifetime.

A problem arises when such foreigners die in Thailand and their families or relatives abroad want to administer their estates in Thailand, then they must deal with the bank account of the deceased person.

The problem is caused by the rules of the Bank of Thailand and local commercial banks, which deem that the information on any bank account of any Thai or foreigner is confidential and cannot be revealed to other parties.

With regard to the general practice of the banks, the heirs who may want to access the bank account must first file a motion with a Thai court requesting it appoint an administrator of the estate.

After the court has appointed an administrator of the estate, such persons can take the court's order to show to the bank and arrange closure of the account and repatriation of whatever amount is in the account.

Although the Bank of Thailand and commercial banks have the same criteria to manage the bank accounts of both Thais and foreigners, which is a good thing, in practice this may cause difficulties for the relatives of the deceased, who may have to travel to Thailand to administer the properties of the deceased because they may not know in advance the value of the properties, and thus cannot estimate whether it is worth appointing a lawyer and/or traveling to Thailand to administer any such property.

The above problems can be resolved. All commercial banks should collaborate to provide the necessary information to the relatives and families of foreigners who have passed away in Thailand.

For example, banks should be able to divulge the number of digits in the amount, such as six or seven digits, or any similar information so that the relatives can decide whether it is worthwhile to proceed with the case.

Such foreigners who stay in Thailand are good for the Thai economy, because there is a massive influx of money flowing into the country.

Moreover, there is circulation of income within the country due to daily spending.

Also, families or relatives of the deceased who journey to Thailand, and experience the kind assistance provided, would also be favorably impressed.

If foreigners know of these facts, they will be more interested in residing in Thailand.


15 December 2014
Bangkok Post

[Oytopikos]

In an unexpected move, the Bank of Thailand cut main interest rates to 1.75% amid a slow economic recovery. This is the first rate cut in a year for the country.
 
In an unexpected move, Thailand executed an interest-rate cut on Wednesday, lowering its main rate to just 1.75 percent. This is the Bank of Thailand’s first rate cut in one year. The country joins the likes of other central banks who are lowering rates to spur economic growth.
 
Thailand’s economy has been slow-moving, with 2014 expansion at its slowest pace in three years. The economy continues its slow recovery, and the Bank of Thailand is expected to lower its projected growth from 4 percent in the coming weeks.  
 
Members of the monetary policy committee voted 4-to-3 in favor of the rate cut. Mathee Supapongse, Assistant Governor, stated that the rate cut can help the economy and that the central bank will act to help maintain financial stability and support the recovering economy. He went on to say that planned public investment should be a “key growth driver”.
 
Thai exports were down for the second straight year in 2014. This is the first time the country has seen such a decline in nearly two decades. The central bank said on Wednesday that the growth slowdown in China poses a higher risk to overseas sales. Consumer prices are also on the decline for a second month.
 
The Bank of Thailand isn’t the first central bank to cut rates this year. Scores of central banks from India to China have been cutting rates to help support slow growth. In Thailand, demand abroad and at home is on the decline. Government-funded infrastructure projects also failed to pick up as quickly as officials had forecasted.
 
In a statement yesterday, PM Prayuth Chan-Ocha said cutting rates too quickly will leave the country with no other options if the economy slows further. A slow economic recovery and inflation may lead to more rate cuts in the future, but no reductions have been forecasted by economists as of yet.

[Oytopikos]

BANGKOK: -- THE BANK OF THAILAND's 25-basis-point cut in the policy interest rate last week has depreciated the value of the baht by 0.5 per cent and taken the government bond yield curve to the lowest point in six years.

The decline in the bond yield has had the effect of lowering the cost of investment, and the central bank has urged businesses to take advantage of this.

The baht weakened from around 32.30 to nearly 33 against the US dollar after the BOT's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut the benchmark rate from 2 per cent to 1.75 per cent. The yield for government 10-year bond dropped from 2.74 per cent as of March 11 to 2.49 per cent after the cut.

"The baht depreciated because the majority of the market believed that the MPC would maintain the policy interest rate," said BOT spokesman Chirathep Senivongs Na Ayudhya. "But the currency has stabilised now and there is currently no irregularity regarding fund flows ahead of the US Federal Reserve's statement this week."

The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets the US policy rate, is to conclude a two-day meeting tomorrow.

"The current [BOT policy] rate is very supportive, while the interest rate for the government's 10-year bonds is one of the lowest in the region," Chirathep said. "Therefore Thailand's monetary cost is very low … We urge the private sector to invest now when you can get a 10-year loan at an interest rate of around 2.5 per cent, since this an opportunity to expand and increase your competitiveness."

So far two commercial banks, Siam Commercial Bank and Bangkok Bank, have lowered their lending rates after the policy-rate cut.

Land & Houses managing director Adisorn Thananum-Narapool said the lower policy rate was a challenge to the company's plan to issue a new debenture this year. This will cut its interest rate to below 4 per cent.

The company plans to issue half of the Bt10-billion debenture in the first half of this year, and the rest in the second half, he said.

Pruksa Real Estate, which plans to issue a debenture worth Bt3 billion this year, also expects it to carry a lower interest rate than last year, chief operating officer Lersak Chuladesa said.

This is also good news for home-buyers, who will be able to get lower interest rates on their mortgages, he added.

Thai Bond Market Association forecasts Thai companies will issue debentures worth totalling between Bt520 billion and Bt540 billion in this year, dropping 1.8 per cent from last year.

Meanwhile, SCB might consider adjusting its minimum lending rate if other major banks trim their MLRs by only 0.125 percentage point, less than SCB's recent rate cut.

SCB on Thursday became the first bank to lower its MLR and its fixed deposit rate by 0.20 percentage point. On Friday, Bangkok Bank also cut its MLR and fixed deposit rate, but by just 0.125 percentage point.

Krungthai Bank and Kasikornbank, the second and fourth largest banks by assets, have remained quiet over the rate cut.

Arthid Nanthawithaya, senior executive vice president of SCB, said yesterday that if several banks decided to trim their MLRs by only 0.125 percentage point, less than SCB did, the bank would consider adjusting its rates in line with the market.

However, he noted that the policy rate could be cut further as the real interest rate is high and the baht remains strong compared with the currencies of other countries in the region.

He said it was clear to SCB that the Thai economy is still struggling, which has had an impact on retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, and some corporate clients. The bank agrees with the BOT that the rate cut should be a tool to help those sectors

[halfway inn]

ATM VIRUS / FINANCIAL CYBER ATTACKS

Banks alerted to ATM virus

Saturday, 11 April 2015

Banks in several countries have been hit by a new form of financial cyberattack, in which a virus alters banks' computer systems to allow cash withdrawals from automated teller machines to users without an account, Interpol officials said on Saturday.

Interpol, or the International Criminal Police Organization, warned that although no incidents have yet been reported in Japan, the cyber attack method is likely to spread to the country before long, and that Japanese banks should start taking sufficient precautions.

According to the Moscow-based information security firm Kaspersky Lab, the virus has been found in about 100 financial institutions in 30 countries, including the United States, Germany and China, since 2013.

It is linked to losses of US$832 million globally.

While previous cyber attacks have targeted bank customers' computers to gain access to their accounts, the new method directly attacks banking systems to allow ATM withdrawals from dummy accounts.

Interpol is working with authorities in affected countries to tackle the virus.

The organisation has set up a dedicated centre to deal with new developments in cybercrime, the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, in Singapore.

On Friday, Tokyo police said that about 82,000 personal computers worldwide, including about 44,000 in Japan, had been found infected with a separate virus that steals online banking users' login details to make unauthorised money transfers.

[halfway inn]

เตือนภัยไวรัสบนมือถือ / Warning against smartphone virus

The following is a note of warning, sent to all Bangkok Bank's customers.

The same type of warning applies to all customers of all Thai Bank Institutions for their awareness.


เรียน ท่านสมาชิกบัวหลวง ไอแบงก์กิ้ง
 
ขณะนี้มีกลุ่มมิจฉาชีพส่ง SMS MMS อีเมล หรือจัดทำหน้าจอหลอกลวงโดยแอบอ้างว่าส่งมาจากธนาคาร ให้ผู้รับดาวน์โหลดหรือติดตั้งโปรแกรมลงบนโทรศัพท์มือถือ สมาร์ทโฟน แท็บเล็ต หรือคอมพิวเตอร์ ซึ่งโปรแกรมดังกล่าวมีไวรัสที่สามารถขโมยรหัสประจำตัว รหัสลับส่วนตัว และข้อความ SMS รวมถึงรหัสผ่านครั้งเดียว (OTP) ที่ส่งผ่านโทรศัพท์มือถือเครื่องดังกล่าว เพื่อใช้ลักลอบเข้าทำธุรกรรมโอนเงินออกจากบัญชีของท่านผ่านบริการธนาคารทางอินเทอร์เน็ตโดยที่ท่านไม่ทราบ
 
เพื่อความปลอดภัยในการทำธุรกรรมทางการเงินต่างๆ ผ่านอุปกรณ์ ได้แก่ โทรศัพท์มือถือ สมาร์ทโฟน แท็บเล็ต หรือคอมพิวเตอร์ ธนาคารขอให้ท่านปฏิบัติตามคำแนะนำต่อไปนี้
 

    หลีกเลี่ยงการคลิกลิงก์ (URL) ที่ส่งมากับ SMS MMS อีเมล หรือหน้าจอหลอกลวงข้างต้น
    หลีกเลี่ยงการดาวน์โหลด หรือติดตั้งโปรแกรมจากแหล่งที่ไม่น่าเชื่อถือ
    หลีกเลี่ยงการทำธุรกรรมทางการเงินผ่านอุปกรณ์ที่ได้รับการดัดแปลงระบบปฏิบัติการ (jail break สำหรับระบบปฏิบัติการ iOS และ root สำหรับระบบปฏิบัติการแอนดรอยด์)
    ติดตั้งแอพพลิเคชั่นป้องกันไวรัสบนโทรศัพท์มือถือ สมาร์ทโฟน แท็บเล็ต หรือคอมพิวเตอร์ โดยเฉพาะที่ใช้ทำธุรกรรมออนไลน์

 
ธนาคารขอยืนยันว่า ธนาคารไม่มีนโยบายส่ง SMS, MMS หรืออีเมล เพื่อขอให้ท่านดาวน์โหลดหรือติดตั้งโปรแกรมใดๆ สำหรับการทำธุรกรรมต่างๆ กับธนาคาร หรือจัดทำหน้าจอเพื่อให้ท่านกรอกข้อมูลส่วนตัว ดังนั้น หากท่านได้รับ SMS, MMS หรืออีเมลในทำนองดังกล่าว หรือได้ทำการคลิกลิงก์เพื่อดาวน์โหลดโปรแกรมที่ต้องสงสัยไปแล้ว หรือพบหน้าจอหรือข้อความที่ไม่คุ้นเคย หรือผิดไปจากปกติ ให้หยุดทำรายการทันที โปรดติดต่อเจ้าหน้าที่ธนาคารทันทีที่บัวหลวงโฟน โทร. 1333 หรือ (66) 0-2645-5555 ทุกวัน ตลอด 24 ชั่วโมง
 
ขอแสดงความนับถือ
บัวหลวง ไอแบงก์กิ้ง

 
อีเมลฉบับนี้เป็นการแจ้งข้อมูลโดยอัตโนมัติ กรุณาอย่าตอบกลับ หากต้องการสอบถามรายละเอียดเพิ่มเติม โปรดติดต่อบัวหลวงโฟน หรือส่งคำถามของท่านผ่านเมนู ‘ติดต่อเรา’ ทางเว็บไซต์ของธนาคารกรุงเทพ
 
หมายเหตุ: ธนาคารไม่มีนโยบายที่จะสอบถามรหัสลับแรกเข้า หรือรหัสลับส่วนตัวของท่าน กรุณาเก็บรักษาข้อมูลส่วนตัวดังกล่าวของท่านไว้เป็นความลับ
 
****************
Dear Bualuang iBanking member
 
Please be aware of forged or false messages that may be sent to you via SMS, MMS or email or fake screens claiming to be from the Bank in an attempt to extract your personal banking information. These messages try to trick you into downloading or installing malicious software or applications onto your mobile phone, smartphone, tablet or PC. This is dangerous since you follow their instructions, thieves can steal your personal ID, password and every SMS including One Time Password (OTP) for making a funds transfer from your account via internet banking. The fraudulent funds transfer can be made without your awareness.
 
For your own safety in making transactions on devices such as mobile phone, smartphone, tablet or PC, we strongly recommend that you:
 

    Do not click the link (URL) in SMS, MMS or email or fake screens as mentioned above
    Do not download or install programs from unreliable sources
    Do not make financial transactions using any device with jail-broken (iOS) or rooted (Android) operating systems
    Install anti-virus applications onto your mobile phone, smartphone, tablet and PC

 
Bangkok Bank will never send an SMS, MMS or emails requesting you to download or install any software or application to make a transaction with us or introduce any pop-up or screen asking for your personal information. Therefore, if you receive this kind of SMS, MMS or emails, or have clicked any link to download suspicious software or application, or see any unfamiliar/irregular screen, please immediately stop any transactions and contact Bualuang Phone 1333 or (66) 0-2645-5555. Our service is available 24/7.
 
Sincerely,
Bualuang iBanking

 
This e-mail is not a secure form of communication - please do not reply to this e-mail. If you have any questions or need assistance, please call Bualuang Phone or go to the ‘Contact Us’ section at Bangkok Bank’s website.
 
Note: Bangkok Bank will never ask for your password or PIN number. Do not give this information to anyone.