Banking

Bloomberg An unstoppable ascent in the renminbi is signalling Beijing’s growing ease with gradually freeing up one of the world’s most tightly-managed currencies. Since the renminbi hit a six-year high on a trade-weighted basis on November 17, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has set the currency’s daily reference rate at only mildly weaker-than-expected levels. The central bank also has ...

Bloomberg A gauge of short-term funding costs in the euro area tumbled to a record low amid a cash glut that has exacerbated the hunt for collateral before the year-end. Three-month Euribor — a benchmark based on the average rate that large banks in the region can theoretically borrow from one another — falls by 1.1 basis points, the most ...

Bloomberg Argentina’s central bank tightened access to hard currency further, the latest attempt by the crisis-prone country to contain dwindling reserves amid the growing devaluation expectations. The central bank published one rule change affecting banks and another affecting consumers, as it tries to preserve its store of dollars to help defend the value of the peso. The measures follow midterm ...

Bloomberg Nordea Bank Abp is urging its employees in Denmark to bring a Covid-19 certificate when working at the office. The biggest Nordic bank isn’t currently checking whether employees have a Covid-19 passport, but said staff are “expected to act responsibly” and follow hygiene protocols. The purpose is to limit the spread of the virus, a Nordea spokesman said in ...

Bloomberg Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said interest rates are still accommodative after two hikes since August, suggesting further tightening is in the pipeline as inflation risks mount in the recovering economy. The board considered the price pressures building in the economy and financial imbalances when it decided to raise rates by 25 basis points to 1%, Lee ...

Bloomberg The explosive growth in sustainability-linked loans has exposed a number of shortcomings that need to be resolved in order to avoid greenwashing, according to the global head of sustainable finance at Danske Bank. As things stand now, there are “clear risks,” Samu Slotte, who’s based in Danske’s Helsinki office, said in an interview. “There is room for improvement.” Among ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank will be closely watching inflation expectations to determine whether it needs to raise interest rates at a faster pace, Assistant Governor Christian Hawkesby said. “Inflation expectations are going to be absolutely key for us,” Hawkesby said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Wellington. “There are things that could make us go faster, and I ...

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley is offering to reimburse its Hong Kong employees as much as HK$40,000 ($5,100) to compensate for quarantine costs brought on by the financial hub’s zero-Covid strategy. The one-time reimbursement will be available to all Hong Kong permanent employees when they return from a personal trip to visit immediate family members, including spouses, domestic partners, children, parents and ...

Bloomberg US banks, which have been combining at levels not seen since before the global financial crisis, are now facing the near-term hurdles of stalled approvals and the mounting opposition from Democrats in Washington. All of that is unlikely to keep the string of deals from ultimately continuing, according to analysts. Regional lenders “may tap the brakes” in their merger-and-acquisition ...

Bloomberg The Czech central bank expects only a limited economic fallout from the worsening pandemic and remains prepared for more interest-rate increases to curb surging inflation, according to one of its vice governors. The country “has learned to live with Covid” and potential lockdown measures are unlikely to significantly hurt consumption and investments, Marek Mora said in a video posted ...