Banking

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) could stop buying bonds as early as next September if inflation looks to have sustainably returned to the official target, Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said. Introduced in 2015, the bank’s asset purchase program, or APP, was designed to get consumer-price growth back to 2%, according to Holzmann, who heads Austria’s central bank and ...

Bloomberg ABN Amro Bank NV reported third-quarter profit that beat estimates as the Dutch lender released money it had stashed for doubtful loans and said it’s in talks with its regulator about buying back stock. The bank, based in Amsterdam, saw net income jump 14% from a year earlier to 343 million euros ($397 million). That was higher than the ...

Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank upcoming monetary policy decisions will be data driven and depend on any additional price shocks, Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said, signalling that policy makers aren’t committed to an established path for interest rates. “We’re not pointing in any direction nor ruling out any direction,” Diaz de Leon said in a telephone interview. “We’re signalling that ...

Bloomberg Nigeria’s currency rebounded in the illegal market as the central bank boosted sales of dollars to commercial banks, according to traders. The currency strengthened to an average 540 to a dollar from about 570 a week ago in unauthorised markets in Lagos and other cities where foreign currency is freely traded, according to Abubakar Mohammed, chief executive officer for ...

Bloomberg Peru’s central bank tightened monetary policy for a fourth straight month after inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in more than 12 years. Policy makers, led by bank President Julio Velarde, raised their key interest rate by a half-point to 2%, as forecast by six of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. One analyst expected an increase of 75 basis ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank will offer cheap funding to banks which lend to firms that are working towards the nation’s goal of reducing carbon emissions. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will lend financial institutions money to help them provide loans to firms working on China’s energy transition, according to a statement. The central bank will lend 60% of the ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. raised a record $40 billion for Asia-Pacific clients to finance sustainability projects this year, a six-fold increase from 2020 as the US lender strives to meet its global targets and help firms lower emissions. Issuers in the region are taking advantage of cheaper financing by issuing green bonds, tapping increased demand for these products as environmental, social ...

Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA’s third-quarter profit jumped 44%, beating analysts’ estimates as provisions for bad loans declined. Net income at the Paris-based bank increased to 1.4 billion euros ($1.62 billion), according to a statement on Wednesday, exceeding the most optimistic estimate among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Provisions dropped 56% to 266 million euros, compared with 460.5 million euros expected in ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s central bank is starting a project on the technological aspects of building a digital form of its currency to prepare for the days if the city-state decides to have one, its chief said. While acknowledging potential benefits of having its own digital currency for the local public, such arguments are not compelling enough, Managing Director Ravi Menon of ...

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc (StanChart) will have a British retail banking offering for the first time this century after announcing the launch of a new digital platform for UK savers. The London-based — but Asia-focused — bank said it would launch the Shoal platform, which will allow customers to invest exclusively in green and sustainable projects. The initiative, backed by ...