Bloomberg Central banks in five of eight major African nations will likely hold interest rates in the next two weeks to shore up their sickly economies, even as the inflation pressures build. Surging food and fuel prices from the war in Ukraine, renewed virus lockdowns in China and the US unwinding coronavirus stimulus have clouded the outlook for the ...
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Global lenders flee the monster SPAC market they helped create
Bloomberg Just a few years after banks helped create a gargantuan market for blank check companies, they’re pulling away from the deals, afraid of the risks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is ending its involvement with most of the special purpose acquisition companies it took public and pausing new US SPAC issuance, Bloomberg reported. Bank of America Corp (BofA) scaled back ...
Read More »Credit Suisse weighs removing Gottstein as soon as this year
Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s board has held early stage talks on potentially replacing Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein after a string of scandals and misfires, people with knowledge of the matter said. A change at the top of the bank could come as early as this year. While the board continues to publicly voice support for Gottstein, some ...
Read More »Bitcoin’s first African adopter faces backlash from central bank
Bloomberg A regional central bank is clamping down on Bitcoin transactions after the Central African Republic adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender without consulting its monetary authority. The Bank of Central African States, which already doesn’t recognize cryptocurrencies, is now preventing all lenders from partnering with payment platforms that transact in digital currencies or from recognising them as an ...
Read More »Banxico may boost rates at faster pace ‘if needed’
Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank is ready to tighten monetary policy at a faster pace if needed, according to Governor Victoria Rodriguez Ceja. The bank increased key rate by half a percentage point for the fourth consecutive meeting and said it was willing to take more “forceful measures†to tame prices. The decision wasn’t unanimous, with one board member voting ...
Read More »SBI reports $1.2bn net profit in Q4
Bloomberg State Bank of India (SBI), the nation’s largest lender, posted fourth-quarter profit that missed analyst estimate as bad loan provisions rise and income from businesses other than lending dropped. Net income stood at 91.1 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in the three months to March, the highest ever quarterly profit, compared with 64.5 billion rupees a year earlier. That ...
Read More »Westpac shares jump on profit beat, further cost cuts
Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp.’s first-half profit topped analyst estimates as costs continued to decline, offsetting ongoing competition in mortgages and business lending. The stock opened higher. Cash profit at Australia’s third-largest lender falls to A$3.1 billion in the six months to March 31, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a statement. That beat the A$2.9 ...
Read More »India’s central bank to raise its inflation forecast in June
Bloomberg India’s central bank will raise its inflation forecast in the June monetary policy meeting amid elevated commodity prices, possibly setting the stage for more interest rate increases by August, a person familiar with the matter said. There is also a growing chance that inflation will breach the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) targeted 2%-6% ...
Read More »Credit Suisse appoints financing group heads
Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG will name two veterans to lead its Asia-Pacific financing group in a bid to shore up one of its most profitable businesses in the region after a series global scandals triggered billions of dollars in losses and departures of senior executives at the Swiss bank. The Zurich-based lender will name Tim Tu, who just ...
Read More »Nomura hires 10 traders to build out its FX-focused macro desks
Bloomberg Nomura Holdings Inc. has hired four traders from Citigroup Inc., and six others from elsewhere, as it rebuilds its macro desks globally with a focus on foreign exchange. Dipak Shah, Sidi Mohamed Saaf, Matthew Rupsis and Christopher Torrington have recently joined Nomura from Citigroup in a variety of roles to help the Japanese lender boost its forward and ...
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