Banking

  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 ...

  Bloomberg Demand for green bonds and other financing tied to climate and environmental projects is growing and should expand further, said Bank of America Corp.’s (BofA) chief Brian Moynihan. “It’s a pretty amazing thing to see how much capital is coming in, and yet we’re getting started,” Moynihan said at the IIF Sustainable Finance Summit. “You’re going to see ...

  Bloomberg HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank by assets, said India’s banking sector regulator had lifted restrictions on the launch of new digital business-generating activities. “We are fully committed to ensuring continued adherence to the highest standards of compliance with RBI recommendations,” HDFC Bank said in a statement Saturday, adding the Reserve Bank of India had notified ...

  Bloomberg China’s credit expansion slowed as a long holiday and the slumping housing market meant people and companies borrowed less, raising expectations that the central bank will need to do more to support growth. Banks lent 1.2 trillion yuan ($194 billion) in the month, down from 4 trillion yuan in January and less than in February last year, the ...

  Bloomberg Nigerian lenders cut the dollar spending limits on local currency cards to free more resources to fund imports after the central bank signaled it will stop foreign-exchange sales to banks. United Bank for Africa Plc stopped the use of naira card to withdraw dollars from automated teller machines outside the country or make international payments at point of ...