Banking

BLOOMBERG  Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Morgan Stanley will merge some operations at their Japan-based joint ventures, in the first major reorganisation since the two entities were formed more than a decade ago. The companies will integrate Japan equity sales for institutional clients, along with corporate access, research and a part of execution services, MUFG and Morgan Stanley said ...

BLOOMBERG  Swedbank AB delivered better-than-expected income from lending activities in the second quarter, joining peer Nordea Bank Abp in enjoying the benefits of rising interest rates. Net interest income at Sweden’s second biggest bank rose 7% to 12.77 billion kronor ($1.2 billion) in the three months through June, compared to the first quarter, according to a statement on Tuesday. Analysts ...

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 ...