Banking

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is intensifying discussions with bank executives over their readiness for a potential surge in company defaults and a drying-up of energy-market liquidity, amid the worsening stand-off over Russian gas supplies. The Frankfurt-based bank watchdog wrote to lenders last month, telling them to analyse the impact of a gas stoppage on their businesses, according to ...

  Bloomberg Argentine fintech Uala will allow clients in Mexico to receive money from abroad starting as it taps the fast-growing remittances market, which is expected to reach $60 billion in this year. The new service will be operated by Mexican bank ABC Capital, whose acquisition by Uala was announced in November, with the aim of expanding its financial services ...

  Bloomberg Bitcoin rallied the most since July, breaking out of the narrowest trading range in about two years, as a drop in the dollar renewed demand for battered risk assets worldwide. The largest cryptocurrency by market value advanced as much as 10.1% to $21 in New York. The increase was the most since July 19. Bitcoin is outperforming most ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said it would boost scheduled bond purchases as the intensifying Treasuries selloff puts upward pressure on global yields and weakens the yen. The BOJ said it would buy 550 billion yen ($3.8 billion) of five-10 year bonds at its regular operations, up from 500 billion yen scheduled. The move comes as Japan’s benchmark ...

  Bloomberg Britain’s lenders will have to write off £31 billion to £41 billion ($35.6 billion to $47.1 billion) of loans over the next three years as the country is hit by a recession, analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG predicted. The estimates are based on an economic contraction of between 1.5% and 4%, Omar Keenan and Alexander Demetriou said ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of Canada laid out key markers it will be watching as it considers how high borrowing costs will need to rise, flagging inflation expectations and underlying momentum of price pressures. In a speech in Calgary, Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said policy makers will be closely monitoring how consumption, global supply disruptions and inflation measures evolve ...

  Bloomberg Serbia lifted its benchmark interest rate more than expected to the highest level since early 2018 as the Balkan nation steps up efforts to tame accelerating inflation. The central bank raised its one-week repurchase rate by half a percentage point to 3.5%. Most analysts expected a hike of 25 basis points, with five of 17 correctly predicting the ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of England delayed its next interest-rate decision a week to September 22 to allow a period of mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The move gives the Monetary Policy Committee more time to consider key inflation and jobs data due to be published next week. It also brings the rate decision closer to the ...

  Bloomberg Vietnam set its reference rate for the dong at a record low, setting the stage for more weakness in the country’s currency The State Bank of Vietnam set the currency fixing at 23,281 dong per dollar, the weakest since at least 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s after the dong fell to the lowest in more ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG has abandoned its plan to acquire US robo-adviser Wealthfront, unwinding what would have been the Swiss bank’s first major acquisition under Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers. The companies together decided to terminate their January merger agreement, valued at $1.4 billion, according to statements from both of them that didn’t specify a reason. UBS will purchase a ...