Banking

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s de facto central bank bought the local dollar at the fastest pace on record this month to defend its currency from crossing the weak end of its trading band. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) bought HK$78.1 billion ($10 billion) so far this month, including its HK$20.8 billion purchase. The currency still continues to linger near the ...

  Bloomberg The UK government is extending a plan to sell more of its 11.3 billion-pound ($14 billion) stake in NatWest Group Plc for another year, as it looks to further reduce its stake in the lender. UK Government Investments Ltd., the body that oversees state holdings, said the extension means the trading plan is now set to terminate on ...

  Bloomberg The yen sinks to a fresh 24-year low against the dollar as risk assets rebounded and investors ventured out of havens. The currency falls more than 1% overnight and traded at 136.50 per dollar in Tokyo, its lowest since 1998. “The demand for safe haven currencies is down today and that’s weighing on the yen,” said Brendan McKenna, ...

  Bloomberg India’s rupee may extend declines to a record-low 81 per dollar by year-end due to rising prices of crude and other raw materials, according to Bank of America (BofA). The currency has already slumped more than 5% this year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent Brent crude surging to almost $140 a barrel in March. The rally in ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) plans to scrap rules introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis designed to test whether borrowers could afford their mortgages in the event of significant interest rate rises. The central bank’s Financial Policy Committee said it would withdraw the so-called affordability test from August 1, according to a statement on Monday. The rule, ...

  Bloomberg Jyske Bank agreed to buy the Danish unit of Svenska Handelsbanken, in what is potentially the biggest bank deal in Denmark in two decades. Jyske will pay a cash consideration to be determined at the closing, plus a premium of $420 million for the unit which has assets of almost $10 billion, the banks said in statements on ...

  Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will support internationalisation of the country’s popular unified payments interface (UPI) digital payments system, part of its vision for the coming years. “Enhanced interest evinced by major countries across the globe in India’s UPI could accelerate growth in trade and commerce with partnering countries while reducing speed and cost of remittances,” the ...

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) policy of monetary easing should remain on track for now, considering the negative impact a change would have on smaller companies. Monetary policy “should be judged comprehensively by taking into account the trends of the economy as a whole,” Kishida said on a Fuji Television network program. “A ...

Bloomberg European companies could find it hard to bargain for the kinder interest rates that the relationship-driven corporate loan market typically offers, as inflation and tighter monetary policy begin to bite into their funders’ pockets. Pricing is likely to rise for corporate loan borrowers in the near future, said Carlo Fontana, head of global syndicate at UniCredit SpA. “Banks’ cost ...

  Bloomberg Chinese banks kept their main lending rates unchanged on Monday, with the start of a gradual economic recovery from Covid lockdowns and tighter monetary policy in the rest of the world clouding the outlook for more central bank stimulus. The one-year loan prime rate was left at 3.7%, in line with forecasts and where it’s been since a ...