Bloomberg India’s central bank signalled a shift in policy focus as it ramped up efforts to mop up excess liquidity in the banking system and raised its inflation forecasts, sending bond yields higher. While the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rate-setting panel decided to hold rates and keep its accommodative stance, it also voted unanimously to focus on “withdrawal ...
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BNP reaches work from home deal with 132,000 employees
Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA reached one of the most comprehensive work-from-home deals among major banks, with more than 132,000 employees given the option of doing their jobs from home for up to half the week. Staff in 22 countries across Europe can decide to work from home every week for as much as 2.5 days or to adopt a ...
Read More »Credit Agricole takes 9.2% stake in Italy’s Banco BPM
Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA acquired a minority stake in Italy’s Banco BPM SpA, in a deal that may spark speculation it is aiming for a full takeover. The French bank said it has built a 9.18% holding in Banco BPM. It’s not applied for authorization from regulators to increase its holding above 10%, according to a statement. Consolidation of ...
Read More »Barclays considers moving into lucrative world of private credit
Bloomberg Barclays Plc is developing a global private credit strategy, according to several people familiar with the situation, seeking to take part in the fast-growing $1.2 trillion asset class. The plans are at an early stage, and the details on exactly how Barclays will enter private credit are still under discussion, so the bank hasn’t reached out to external ...
Read More »Citi recruits four more for health-care banking
Bloomberg Citigroup Inc hired four more health-care investment bankers, doubling down on efforts to increase its market share in the sector. The hires were announced in a memo to staff from Chuck Adams, the global head of the health-care, consumer and wellness investment-banking group. Among the changes: Michael Brock, the former strategy officer at Acepodia, joined the bank last ...
Read More »Big Canadian banks unanimously expect a 50-point hike next week
Bloomberg It’s unanimous: All six of Canada’s major commercial lenders now expect the Bank of Canada to move ahead with a jumbo rate hike next week. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank ramped up their calls for the central bank to raise its policy rate by half a percentage point to 1% at ...
Read More »BOJ’s Kuroda standing firm despite weak yen
Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda won’t change his ultra-low interest rate policy in the coming quarters, even though he’ll come under political pressure to do so over the weak yen, according to one of the country’s former chief currency officials. “The political pressure from the people, parliament and media is going to be a bit higher,†said Hiroshi ...
Read More »China’s central bank vows to boost economy
Bloomberg China’s central bank vowed to boost confidence and provide more effective support to the economy, amid mounting growth pressure from the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since Wuhan. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reaffirmed it will step up the magnitude of monetary policy and make it more forward-looking, targeted and autonomous, according to a statement. The central bank ...
Read More »ECB policy normalisation still appropriate, says Schnabel
Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is right to press forward with its plan to normalise monetary policy even as the war in Ukraine creates “elevated uncertainty,†executive board member Isabel Schnabel said. “Continuing the path of policy normalisation is therefore the appropriate course of action,†Schnabel said in a speech in Cernobbio, Italy. “The speed of normalisation, in ...
Read More »Zimbabwe central bank keeps world’s highest interest rate; raises it to 80%
Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s central bank lifted its key interest rate to a record high, to halt a decline in its currency and rein in surging inflation amid food and fuel price pressures that have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The monetary policy committee (MPC) hiked the rate to 80% from 60%, Governor John Mangudya said in a statement. ...
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