Banking

Bloomberg China’s digital yuan will help banks become more competitive in the payments sector after steadily losing out to popular technology platforms over the years, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “We expect adoption of e-CNY to help reinforce banks’ position in the payments system because it will enhance their data collection ability and broaden their user bases,” analysts led by ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG’s wealthy Asian clients are pouring billions of dollars into sustainable assets as the region’s swelling ranks of millionaires jump on a global push into socially responsible investing. Assets under management in fully sustainable discretionary portfolios for Asia-Pacific private banking jumped to $4.5 billion as of the end June, up from $1 billion at the start of ...

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley is stepping up efforts to ensure employees comply with its rule that they be vaccinated to enter its buildings. The firm told vaccinated staff to provide documentation of their shots by October 1, after previously letting them attest to their status. The extra step is meant to “provide greater comfort for those working in the office,” it ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Global Markets says Treasury yields are set to rise, and there’s a way to screen out one of the main risk factors that may push them lower by betting against the yuan. The US brokerage recommends its clients position for higher US rates and also use options to wager against any strength in China’s currency. The rationale is ...

Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc could buy 50,000 UK homes in the next decade as it looks to become a major player in the country’s rental market. An internal job advertisement seen by the Financial Times for the bank’s newly launched Citra Living unit details ambitions for Lloyds to purchase 10,000 houses by the end of 2025 and 50,000 by ...

Bloomberg European bankers will soon have to show they’re contributing to a cleaner environment, a better society and good governance — or face a smaller pay package. In the latest sign that ESG is reshaping finance, most of the 20 major European banks surveyed by Bloomberg said they were either working on, or already had, a model that links staff ...

Bloomberg Four of the top five Canadian banks are taking a stricter stance with their return-to-office policies, requiring that workers be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before coming back to company buildings, while the fifth is moving in the same direction. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Bank of Montreal joined other major financial firms in requiring ...

Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd is aiming to grow its customer base by at least 10 million across the 20 African countries it operates in over the next four years. Africa’s biggest lender is looking to add more digitally engaged customers, forge alliances with distribution partners and expand its product offering as it plots a recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank refrained from raising interest rates during a coronavirus outbreak and nationwide lockdown but left little doubt it intends to start lifting them soon. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee kept the official cash rate (OCR) at 0.25%, but Governor Adrian Orr said the decision was made in light of the lockdown and that policy was ...

Bloomberg The Philippine central bank will stop accepting applications for digital banking licenses from September 1, Governor Benjamin Diokno said. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will close the application window for three years to allow the regulator “to better monitor” the performance of the industry, Diokno said in a briefing. Submissions on or before end-August will be processed on a first-come, ...