Bloomberg Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, the nation’s third-largest bank by assets, said it’s facing 1.23 billion yuan ($178 million) in overdue loans, nearly double a previous estimate, from a mortgage boycott on unfinished projects that has swept the country. After reporting a small gain in earnings on Monday, the Beijing-based lender revealed that the overdue loans are linked ...
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IDBI Bank CEO says it can recover $2.4bn in bad loans
Bloomberg IDBI Bank Ltd’s chief executive officer (CEO) said the lender is likely to recoup 195 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) on soured debt in his pitch to potential buyers amid India’s planned auction of the firm. “We are sitting on about 780 billion rupees of fully provided for bad loans, including written-off loans, and around 25% is likely to ...
Read More »Morgan Stanley’s short selling practices inspected in S Korea
Bloomberg Morgan Stanley’s stock short selling practices are being inspected by South Korea as part of a broader effort by the nation’s financial watchdog to clamp down on bets against equities. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also plans to examine Bank of America Merrill Lynch over how it conducts stock short sales. Morgan Stanley was picked due to the ...
Read More »Bolivar’s crash breaks rare stretch of stability
Bloomberg The bolivar is plummeting, breaking a rare stretch of stability for Venezuela’s battered currency. It has lost a third of its value so far this month, hitting 9.08 bolivars per US dollar on the parallel exchange market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the steepest monthly decline since January 2021. Controlling the exchange rate has been a ...
Read More »Slump in investment-banking activity hits RBC’s net profit
Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) profit took a hit last quarter as a slump in investment-banking activity took a toll on revenue and a deteriorating economic outlook prompted higher-than-expected provisions for loan losses. RBC Capital Markets’ revenue falls by a third to $1.27 billion in the fiscal third quarter, the Toronto-based bank said in a statement. Overall profit ...
Read More »Bank of Korea opts for less aggressive battle against inflation
Bloomberg The Bank of Korea raised its key interest rate by a quarter-percentage point, returning to its usual pace of tightening as Governor Rhee Chang-yong made clear his view that outsized rate hikes were no longer essential in the battle against inflation. The central bank increased its seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 2.5%, in line with ...
Read More »Citigroup to wind down consumer unit in Russia
Bloomberg Citigroup will wind down its consumer and commercial banking operations in Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine complicated the sale of the business. The company will incur $170 million in costs tied to the wind-down, mostly tied to restructuring expenses and vendor termination fees, according to a statement. Citigroup will continue to try to sell certain ...
Read More »BofA beefs up tech offerings as digital logins soar to a record
Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) is expanding its investments in digital channels as customers shift their transactions online in record numbers. Clients logged in to the bank’s electronic platforms 1 billion times in July and 2.8 billion times — an 11% increase— in the second quarter, Bank of America said in a statement. New investments will focus on ...
Read More »Paraguay lifts key interest rate to 8.25%
Bloomberg Paraguay’s central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 8.25% with inflation still in the low teens. Policy makers continued a gradual pace of tightening after hiking by 25 basis points in July. The central bank signalled consumer prices might continue to slow in August. “Lower international oil prices have contributed ...
Read More »TD reaps benefit of climbing rates with more gains to come
Bloomberg Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), which has struck two major deals to expand in the US this year, reaped the benefit of higher interest rates and sees more gains to come as central banks continue their fight against inflation. Net interest income rises 17% to C$7.04 billion ($5.45 billion) in the fiscal third quarter, the Toronto-based company said in a ...
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