Regional banks form grouping

Regional banks form grouping

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Fifteen regional banks announced
Thursday the launch of the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association
to strengthen and increase lending activities.

"Market players will stand to gain from potential savings in
cost and time through the standardization of loan documents,"
said APLMA vice-chairman William Hon, senior vice president of
the Development Bank of Singapore.

APLMA will be chaired by Banque Nationale de Paris' head of
loan syndication Ian Adams. Standard Chartered, Chase Manhattan
Bank, ABN Amro, Bank of America, Citicorp, HSBC Investment Bank,
Barclays Capital, Bank of China, National Australia Bank, SG
Asia, Sumitomo Bank and West LB are also members.

Over the past five years, the loan market has provided around
US$500 billion in funds for Asian development, the group said.