Banking

BLOOMBERG  New Philippine central bank Governor Eli Remolona signalled that further monetary policy tightening is still on the table for the Southeast Asian country, and said it’s “premature” to talk about cutting the key rate. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas remains on the “tightening side” as it monitors upside risks to inflation, including El Nino and wage hikes, Remolona said ...

BLOOMBERG  Federal Reserve policymakers are primed to resume raising interest rates this month and remain open to a further increase later in the year. While officials were encouraged by a step-down in price pressures last month, they’re not inclined to pronounce an end to their battle to rein in inflation that has repeatedly surprised them with its persistence. Contributing to ...

BLOOMBERG  Traders who drove the pound to its best week of the year have a lot riding on the next inflation report, where even a faster-than-expected rate could work against them. Pricing in the options market suggests investors are already revving up to sell, concerned that something in the economy will eventually break under the weight of ever-higher rates. Positioning ...

The Bank of Korea (BOK) held its policy rate steady for a fourth-straight meeting and pledged to retain a restrictive policy stance for a considerable time as it seeks to put a lid on consumer inflation. The central bank kept its seven-day repurchase rate at 3.5% as predicted by all 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The BOK pledged in ...

BLOOMBERG  Wells Fargo & Co has hired a couple of mergers and acquisitions bankers from Barclays Plc and Citigroup Inc as it builds up its Wall Street advisory business, according to a person familiar with the matter. Tom Drake is joining the San Francisco-based bank from Barclays as a managing director in its M&A group focussing on healthcare services and ...

BLOOMBERG  Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the Federal Reserve to halt interest-rate increases as the US inflation rate slid to a more than two-year low. “Take yes for an answer, Chair Powell, and let’s stop with the rate increases,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in an interview. She has famously called Jerome Powell, the central bank’s chairman, a “dangerous man ...

BLOOMBERG  Hong Kong plans to raise the maximum protection on bank deposits in a move designed to better shield people during times of severe stress. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) proposed to increase the amount of savings covered by the government guarantee in the event of bank failure to HK$800,000 ($102,272) per depositor at each Hong Kong bank, up ...

BLOOMBERG  Housing Development Finance Corp, India’s largest mortgage financier, merging into HDFC Bank Ltd is likely to lead to a drop in borrowing costs in the rupee bond market, a senior official at the merged unit, said. “If the amount of supply comes down and demand remains the same, then prices will reflect that,” Keki Mistry, a non-executive director on ...

BLOOMBERG  Even in a year where currency volatility is falling worldwide, the slump in swings in the Indian rupee has traders from London to Singapore asking when the central bank will loosen its iron grip. The rupee’s one-month implied volatility versus the dollar crashed to its lowest since 2005 in June, drawing queries from investors on roadshows of Citigroup Inc ...

BLOOMBERG  UBS Group AG named Sylvia Coutinho Brazil country head and the regional leader for Latin America businesses as the Swiss bank integrates teams from its acquisition of Credit Suisse Group AG. Marcello Chilov, Credit Suisse’s former chief executive officer in Brazil and head of wealth management for Latin America, will run UBS global wealth management in Latin America, according ...