Banking

BLOOMBERG Bank of Montreal posted a surprise drop in fiscal second-quarter profit as it set aside a larger provision for loan losses than analysts had expected and trading revenue fell. The bank’s provision for credit losses of C$1.02 billion ($755 million) included an initial C$517 million on the performing loan portfolio of Bank of the West, the bank said in ...

BLOOMBERG DBS Group Holdings Ltd expects to achieve earnings of more than S$10 billion ($7.4 billion) in the medium term, driven by a strong balance sheet and an ongoing digital transformation. Return-on-equity is expected to be in a range of 15% to 17%, Southeast Asia’s biggest lender said in an investor day presentation, referring to a time frame of three ...

BLOOMBERG  US bank deposits fell for a third week to the lowest level in nearly two years, extending a yearlong slide as customers continue seeking higher returns in money-market funds. Lending was little changed. Deposits at commercial banks decreased by $26.4 billion in the week ended May 10 to $17.1 trillion, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Federal Reserve. ...

BLOOMBERG  India is withdrawing its highest-value currency note just months before a national election, when cash in circulation typically surges. People have until September 30 to deposit 2,000 rupee ($24) notes into their bank accounts or exchange them for other denominations, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement citing its “clean note policy.” It didn’t say what ...

BLOOMBERG  Federal Bank Ltd, the Indian bank backed by the International Finance Corp (IFC), plans to raise as much as 40 billion rupees ($486 million) in the next few months to support its expansion. The fundraising could be via debt or equity, or a combination of the two, with the final structure still under consideration, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer ...

BLOOMBERG  James Gorman, who transformed Morgan Stanley after it nearly collapsed during the global financial crisis, plans to step down as chief executive officer (CEO) within the next year and assume the role of executive chairman. “It is the board’s and my expectation that it will occur at some point in the next 12 months,” Gorman, 64, said at the ...

BLOOMBERG  China’s yuan jumped after the country’s central bank moved to shore up the currency following a recent selloff, vowing to curb speculation and calling for more stability in the foreign exchange market. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the foreign exchange regulator will “strengthen market expectation guidance and take actions to correct pro-cyclical and one-way market behaviours when ...

BLOOMBERG  Barclays Plc expects to increase its headcount in Paris by about two thirds in the next two to three years, as the French capital increasingly becomes the main trading hub in continental Europe for global lenders after Brexit. The London-based bank, which employs roughly 300 staff in Paris, believes it could generate enough business from the office to add ...

BLOOMBERG  The pace at which the Bank of England (BOE) shrinks its balance sheet is likely to accelerate, the deputy governor for markets told UK lawmakers. The BOE is currently unwinding about £20 billion (£25 billion) of quantitative easing (QE) every three months, both as assets mature and as they are actively sold. Dave Ramsden, deputy governor, said: “There’s the ...

BLOOMBERG UBS Group AG is gearing up for an estimated $34.8 billion gain as a result of its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG, while warning it faces billions in potential legal and regulatory costs from the rescue of its stricken former rival. The Swiss bank stands to benefit from the combined firms’ negative goodwill, based on a first ...