Basel III changes M&A appetite for banks

[SINGAPORE] Basel III will dampen banks' appetite for minority stakes in fellow lenders, says Michael Zink, Citi's head of Asean and country officer for Singapore. This poses an issue for banks looking to gain a significant foothold in Asean through mergers and acquisitions, since several countries in Asean allow foreign buyers to snap up only a minority share of a local bank.

It also comes amid concerns over rising costs of compliance and regulations for banks across the world, said Mr Zink in an interview with BT. "These …