Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA has hired Gaurav Bathija from Citi Private Bank to be a managing director and senior relationship manager for South East Asia market, the latest in a series of hires by the French bank to boost its wealth and family office operations in Singapore. Bathija, who worked with Citi’s family office clients in Singapore, was head ...
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ECB defies global peer pressure after Fed-led tightening
Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s (ECB) go-slow approach to starting interest-rate hikes is looking ever bolder at a time when most of its counterparts are tightening vigorously. At the end of a week punctuated by global increases in borrowing costs to quell inflation, including an accelerated half-point move by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England’s fourth ...
Read More »BOE chief says he won’t take a pay rise in 2022
Bloomberg Bank of England (BOE) Governor Andrew Bailey has said that he won’t take a pay rise this year after asking high earners to help keep inflation in check by holding off on making aggressive demands. The central bank chief, who receives total compensation well in excess of 500,000 pounds ($618,000), said he asked the court that sets executive ...
Read More »Russia hit tops $8 billion for European banks pulling back
Bloomberg European banks are counting the rising cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as they brace for a wave of defaults and write down the value of their operations in the country. Led by Societe Generale SA and UniCredit SpA, the region’s lenders have so far flagged a hit of $8.6 billion to their earnings from the war. The ...
Read More »Czechs raise rates to highest since 1999
Bloomberg The Czech central bank lifted borrowing costs more than expected to the highest level since 1999 and signalled further monetary policy tightening to come as intensifying inflation pressure eclipses risks to economic growth. Policy makers raised the benchmark rate by 75 basis points to 5.75% — exceeding the forecasts of all analysts in a Bloomberg survey for a ...
Read More »ECB’s Villeroy says above-zero rates are ‘reasonable’ this year
Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said interest rates may be raised back above zero this year if the euro-zone economy doesn’t suffer another setback. In a speech in Paris, the Bank of France chief also suggested that the ECB should conclude net bond purchases at the end of June — a necessary ...
Read More »Paschi swings to profit ahead of capital hike
Bloomberg Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA swung to a small quarterly profit as new Chief Executive Officer Luigi Lovaglio seeks to revamp the bailed-out bank ahead of a planned capital raising. The bank reported a net income of 9.7 million euros ($10.2 million) in the first three months of the year reversing a fourth quarter loss, according ...
Read More »Poland central bank raises rates to curb inflation
Bloomberg Poland’s central bank pledged to continue fighting inflation after its interest-rate increase fell short of market expectations and weakened the zloty. Policy makers in Warsaw lifted the benchmark rate by 75 basis points to 5.25%, the highest level since 2008. Most economists predicted a full percentage-point increase. Future decisions will hinge on the prospects for inflation and economic ...
Read More »SocGen gets boost from higher rates as Russia hit looms
Bloomberg Societe Generale SA benefited from higher interest rates and market volatility in the first quarter, helping offset rising costs as the French lender prepares to exit its Russian business. Revenue in the first three months rise 17%, beating analysts’ estimates, driven by its international banking operations, gains in French retail banking and across investment banking units. The Paris-based bank ...
Read More »Japan may spend $100b to slow yen’s slide, says BofA
Bloomberg The yen may extend declines to 140 per dollar and that could trigger the Japanese government to spend $100 billion to limit further losses, according to Bank of America (BofA). The currency hasn’t weakened to 140 since 1998, but it may be pushed to that level by a fresh surge in Treasury yields, BofA analysts including Shusuke Yamada ...
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