Weekly Global News Wrap: Tech, rate woes weigh on regional lenders; VP Bank exiting Hong Kong?

And Russia’s Sberbank says it's business in India is booming.

From Bloomberg:
The sleek London branches of Metro Bank Holdings Plc have little in common with the storefront of Banaras Mercantile Co-operative Bank near the Ganges River in northeast India or the specialty-finance operations of Milan’s BFF Bank SpA.

But those very different lenders are all part of a shifting and, in some cases, worrying global trend for regional banks.

Interest-rate shocks, regulatory burdens and a yawning tech gap are disrupting lenders that have served as a bedrock for regional economies for centuries, threatening to cut off consumers and businesses from their traditional funding routes.

From Nikkei Asia:
Liechtenstein’s VP Bank will reportedly exit Hong Kong after 18 years, reports Nikkei Asia.

VP Asia CEO Pamela Hsu Phua and COO Heline Lam have reportedly filed for resignations, citing differences in expectations from headquarters as a reason for stepping down, according to several people familiar with their resignations.

VP Bank confirmed the resignations via email correspondence with Nikkei Asia and said that it would continue to focus on Asia through its Singapore operation.

From Reuters:
Russia's trade with India is booming and bilateral payments are proceeding smoothly without the glitches that have been hampering trade with other countries, Anatoly Popov, deputy CEO of Russia's largest lender, Sberbank, told Reuters.

Sberbank handles payments for up to 70% of all Russian exports to India. 

Sberbank is under Western sanctions and therefore cannot make transactions in U.S. dollars and euros or use the SWIFT system for international transfers. However, Popov said the bank had not experienced any problems in India.