Bloomberg The former US ambassador to Ukraine faced down the president she still serves with a scathing account of how Donald Trump was played by corrupt actors eager to get her fired and expose American policy to political manipulation. Less than an hour after ambassador Marie Yovanovitch began testimony before the House impeachment inquiry, Trump weighed in with a tweet ...
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Fed warns low rates could spark financial instability
Bloomberg Continuing low interest rates could dent US bank profits and push bankers into riskier behaviour that might threaten the nation’s financial stability, the Federal Reserve said in a report. The latest version of the twice-yearly report, meant to flag stability threats on the Fed’s radar, highlighted the rate squeeze facing banks and insurers, noting that it could erode lending ...
Read More »S’pore fines UBS $8.2m for adviser misconduct
Bloomberg Singapore’s regulator fined UBS Group AG S$11.2 million ($8.2 million) for misconduct by its advisers that included overcharging clients for trades. UBS’s advisers engaged in acts that deceived or were likely to deceive clients about the spreads and prices on bond and structured product transactions, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said. “The conduct of UBS through its representatives ...
Read More »Global equity rally showing signs of reversing: Citigroup
Bloomberg A headwind for the global equity rally is showing signs of reversing, and that could give a further boost to stocks, according to Citigroup Inc. Investors have sold a net $230 billion in shares this year amid a 20% rise in a gauge of global stocks, strategists including Robert Buckland wrote in a note. That has only happened twice ...
Read More »RBI calls for tighter governance at banks
Bloomberg India’s central bank chief Shaktikanta Das called for stronger corporate governance at state-run lenders to make the country’s banking sector more efficient. Describing the lack of strict governance as the “elephant in the room,†Das said this had led to elevated levels of non-performing assets (NPA), capital shortfalls, fraud and inadequate risk management. “The role of independent boards in ...
Read More »â€˜Germany’s economy close to full capacity’
Bloomberg Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann painted a positive picture of Germany’s economic prospects, arguing that growth momentum will pick up in the medium term while highlighting the need for structural investment. Europe’s largest economy is operating close to full capacity, with some sectors such as construction showing signs of overheating, Weidmann told an audience of young people in Frankfurt. He ...
Read More »Goldman Sachs to pay $20mn to settle lawsuit
Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc agreed to pay $20 million to settle an investor lawsuit accusing traders at the bank, along with 15 other financial institutions, of rigging prices for bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As part of the settlement, disclosed in a court filing, Goldman Sachs will cooperate with investors in their case against the other ...
Read More »Singapore tycoons team up to vie for digital banking license
Bloomberg Ron Sim, founder of one of Asia’s largest massage chair makers, is in talks to partner with a unit of Temasek Holdings Pte and other firms to bid for one of Singapore’s new virtual banking licenses, according to people familiar with the matter. V3 Group Ltd, Sim’s Singapore-based firm, is discussing forming a consortium with Temasek’s Heliconia Capital Management ...
Read More »IHH’s Fortis takeover faces legal bar after court order
Bloomberg India’s Supreme Court refused to remove a barrier to the takeover of embattled hospital chain Fortis Healthcare Ltd by Malaysian operator IHH Healthcare Bhd, the latest twist in one of the country’s most contentious corporate sagas. The court held Fortis’ founders — Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh — guilty of contempt of court and said it could start similar ...
Read More »India’s palm oil imports slump 12%
Bloomberg India’s palm oil imports in October probably retreated from a one-year high as traders and refiners trimmed buying after overseas supplies became more expensive. Shipments dropped about 12% from a month earlier to 775,000 tons, according to the median of five estimates in a Bloomberg survey of processors, brokers and analysts. That’s the lowest since June. Imports were 879,947 ...
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