Banking

  Bloomberg Banks’ core business of lending has finally turned more profitable again, as the era of negative interest rates in the euro area comes to an end. The EU’s five biggest banks that have reported results so far showed an increase in net interest income of 3.74 billion euros ($3.82 billion) on the same quarter last year, a jump ...

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings’s UK arm is the latest bank to help staff cope with the rising cost of living by making an extra one-time payment. Lower-paid employees will receive the £1,500 ($1,836) boost in their August paychecks, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. All five of the UK’s largest retail banks have now pledged to pay ...

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank continued to build the case to keep its policy rate unchanged for longer, as it sees subsiding food costs and slower global monetary tightening. “Bank Indonesia will continue to normalise monetary policy, but there is no need to quickly raise interest rates like other countries,” Governor Perry Warjiyo said in a briefing. Core inflation is ...

Bloomberg Mastercard Inc. said spending on its network jumped 18% as US consumers battle once-in-a-generation levels of inflation. Payment volume soared to $1.65 trillion in the second quarter, topping the $1.64 trillion average of analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The company boosted its forecast for revenue growth for the year after it reported a 58% surge in overseas payments ...

  Bloomberg Financial firms may be fined and stripped of their regulatory authorisation unless they put their customers’ needs first under far-reaching reforms from the UK City regulator. Banks, insurers and other companies will have to ensure their services are actually good for their clients and that this approach is taken at all levels of the business, Ian Searle, head ...

  Bloomberg A strong quarter from Standard Chartered Plc’s traders provided a boost to the emerging market-focused bank despite fears that a slowing global economy could squeeze its lending business. The London-based bank reported underlying pretax profit rises 7% to $1.32 billion in the second quarter, as its traders benefitted from volatility in global markets along with many of its ...

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc’s profit fell more than expected in the second quarter after it booked charges and penalties in the US, marring a strong period for the bank’s bond traders. The British lender said a market plunge would increase the cost of buying back US investment products it mistakenly oversold. Barclays also expects to pay $200 million in penalties ...

  Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA posted its highest profit on record as lending income rises amid the prospect of higher interest rates and volatile markets lifted securities trading in the second quarter. Revenue at the unit that houses BNP’s retail operations rises 11%, reflecting higher fees, rising rates and gains in specialised businesses, the Paris-based firm said in a statement ...

  Bloomberg Spain is seeking to tax banks for windfall profits made from net interest and fees charged to clients, in the boldest move against lenders by any major European Union nation to offset the impact of a worsening cost-of-living crisis. A bill introduced to parliament aims to set a 4.8% tax on Spanish banks. It also seeks to charge ...

  Bloomberg The yen catapulted higher against major peers as lowered expectations for rate hikes caused hedge funds to cover short bets from one of the biggest global macro trades of the year. In early trading the yen strengthened more than 1% to 135.11 per dollar, as hedge funds liquidated long positions in the greenback, according to Asia-based currency traders. ...