Globalized Banking Sectors: Features and Policy Implications amidst Global Uncertainties

Amidst the global financial uncertainties since 2007, the East and Southeast Asian economies continued to attract a significant bulk of the global banks’ loans to emerging markets, albeit at a decelerating rate. The alleged advantages of these lending are wellknown. Yet the recent interruption to this spectacular rise in international bank lending during the 2007/2008 global financial crisis serves as a stark reminder that international bank lending can rapidly transmit adverse shocks from developed markets to emerging markets. The objective of this study is to identify key features and characteristics of foreign banks’ activities in East and Southeast Asian economies, particularly during the post 2007 global financial crisis period, and to weigh their implications on the local economies, including policy challenges for the central banks and banking supervisors in the region.