Asian banks unaffected by global crisis

Asian financial institutions have remained relatively unaffected by the global financial crisis, with their write-downs constituting just six per cent of the worldwide credit losses, estimated to be $300 billion so far, a latest report said.

According to rating agency Crisil, most Asian financial institutions and global institutions with dominant exposure in Asia have remained relatively unscathed as they were shielded by their asset mix, which primarily consist of Asian credit and related assets.

"Their aggregate exposure to US mortgage-backed assets is, in contrast, much smaller," the report said. The total write-downs and credit losses worldwide so far are estimated to be over $300 billion and nearly all financial institutions have been affected.

"The highest write-down reported so far by any Asian financial institution is of $5.4 billion by Japan-based Mizuho Financial Group. The total write-downs by Asian institutions are less than six per cent of the worldwide total," Crisil senior director Raman Uberoi said.

"Major US and European financial institutions have reported much larger losses and the five worst affected players have contributed more than 40 per cent of the total write-downs and credit losses so far," Uberoi added.

The largest impact of the credit meltdown has been felt by banks, brokers and investment banks, which have large exposures in the US mortgage-backed security and operating mainly in the US and Europe, the report said.

A comparison of the level of write-downs with the size of Asian financial institutions shows that Asian banks have fared better than other global lenders, it added.