Banking

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has the potential to prolong a period of elevated consumer-price growth and is clouding the economic outlook, minutes of its March 1 policy meeting showed. “The war in Ukraine and the associated increase in energy prices had created additional uncertainty,” the Reserve Bank said in the release on Tuesday. A key ...

  Bloomberg European banks operating in Russia are preparing to separate those business from their main computer systems to reduce their vulnerability to cyber-attacks following the invasion of Ukraine. Commerzbank AG is preparing to cut off its Russian unit from its system as one potential scenario and already has the ability to rapidly sever the connection through what’s internally known ...

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co raised Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charlie Scharf’s pay 20% for 2021, a year in which profit recovered and shares advanced more than most of the bank’s rivals. The board paid Scharf $24.5 million for his second full year atop Wells Fargo, up from $20.3 million for 2020, according to a filing. The package consisted ...

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc is setting up a new hub in Malaga, Spain, where it plans to hire 30 analysts, as part of the banking giant’s efforts to retain staff. The lender hopes the Andalusian city, with more than 8 miles (13 kilometers) of coast line along the Mediterranean Sea, will offer employees a better work-life balance and help curb ...

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc has agreed to sell its 15 Greek bank branches to Pancreta Bank SA, the latest move by the lender to cut back some of its operations outside of Asia. Subsidiary HSBC Continental Europe has reached an “in-principle agreement to sell its branch operations in Greece,” according to a statement. No financial terms were disclosed and ...

  Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd is in talks with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to exit the two banks’ UK-based joint venture and focus on growing operations on its home continent. ICBC Standard Bank was created in 2015, when the company sold a 60% stake of its London-based Global Markets business to Chinese giant. The combination sought ...

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG reversed course and is now joining Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in pulling back from business in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “Like some international peers and in line with our legal and regulatory obligations, we are in the process of winding down our remaining business ...

  Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said uncertainty about the length of the current oil shock and the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mandate a cautious approach to monetary and budgetary policies in Europe. The oil shock “is very strong in its intensity, we don’t know its duration yet,” the Bank ...

  Bloomberg Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) No. 2 Guy Debelle is stepping down from his position in an unexpected move that sees the departure of a potential future governor from the central bank. Debelle, who sits on the RBA’s policy-setting board, will join Fortescue Future Industries, a clean energy arm of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, as chief ...

  Bloomberg Banco BPM SpA is considering a possible sale or partnership for its payments unit, as Italy’s third-largest bank shifts strategy in a bid to maximise shareholder value. “We are examining all the options for our merchant-acquiring business, including a disposal or a joint venture agreement,” Chief Financial Officer Edoardo Ginevra said. “In past Banco BPM’s moves to value ...