Banking

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is about to take the next step in reinventing the region’s money as it marches towards the creation of a digital euro. Policy makers will decide whether to move to an exploratory phase, which President Christine Lagarde reckons could take about two years. Ultimately, euro-zone citizens could be holding a virtual central-bank currency by ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) said it will reduce monetary stimulus by ceasing quantitative easing, a surprise move that sent the currency higher as traders priced in an interest-rate increase as early as August. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Adrian Orr, on Wednesday held the official cash rate at 0.25%, but said it will halt ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) is struggling to build back its lending income as consumers, flush with cash from government stimulus programs, avoid taking on new borrowings. Loans and leases in the consumer banking unit fall 12% from a year earlier. Net interest income, on a fully taxable equivalent basis, was $10.3 billion last quarter, the bank said. That ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc is working on a new service that will let consumers pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments over time, rivaling the “buy now, pay later” offerings popularized by services from Affirm Holdings Inc and PayPal Holdings Inc. The upcoming service, known internally as Apple Pay Later, will use Goldman Sachs Group Inc as the lender for ...

Bloomberg Banks in Germany are rapidly cutting back on office space as a rising number of staff work from home, putting them at the vanguard of a global shift that could permanently change the way bankers work. Deutsche Bank AG is vacating several floors in a building housing about 1,000 employees, HSBC Germany is ditching six separate offices in Dusseldorf ...

Bloomberg National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) has emerged as the front-runner for Citigroup Inc’s Australian retail assets. The country’s third-largest bank is in advanced discussions over the purchase of the unit, valued at more than $1 billion, the people said. National Australia confirmed its interest in a statement. “NAB regularly assesses opportunities to acquire businesses that support its growth strategy ...

Bloomberg The central bank of Kenya needs “teeth” to rein in more than 100 lenders, who charge interest rates as high as an annualised 500% for loans disbursed over digital channels, according to Governor Patrick Njoroge. The regulator wants the mobile-phone based and online lenders to disclose more information, including the source of funds and details on ownership for the ...

Bloomberg In the upside-down world of global banking, getting back to normal is bad news for the bottom line. Wall Street churned out massive windfalls during the pandemic, but the economic reopening made possible by widespread vaccinations means this year’s earnings will look weaker by comparison. The big down arrow will be trading revenue, which is expected to show a ...

Bloomberg Bank Indonesia could begin tightening monetary policy next year, including potential moves on interest rates, if the economic recovery remains on track and policy makers see signs of inflation, Governor Perry Warjiyo said. The bank’s exit strategy is to gradually reduce liquidity in the financial system “and then later, the end of next year, maybe some interest-rate action,” Warjiyo ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings’s streamlining drive has reached its top executives, with the bank promising to shake up a “hierarchical culture.” Several hundred managers will have their “leadership bands” altered over the coming months, according to an internal memo from human resources chief, Elaine Arden. Europe’s largest bank found it had a more complicated management system than peers and a lack ...