Banking

BLOOMBERG  First Republic Bank is exploring divesting $50 billion to $100 billion of assets as the beleaguered lender attempts to rescue itself from the turmoil that engulfed the industry in March. The sales, which include long-dated mortgages and securities, are aimed at reducing the mismatch between the bank’s assets and liabilities — one of the factors that has left First ...

BLOOMBERG  Deutsche Bank AG plans to cut about 800 senior back-office staff as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christian Sewing steps up cost reductions amid a slowdown in the trading business that has fuelled much of the lender’s growth. Deutsche Bank announced the steps alongside first-quarter earnings that showed revenue from fixed-income trading slumped 17%, one of the worst performances among ...

BLOOMBERG  Citigroup Inc’s India unit is planning to offer sustainability-linked deposits in the coming months to its corporate and institutional clients, making it the first-of-its-kind product offering in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. Money raised from these deposits will be invested by Citi to help multinational customers meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) obligations in ...

BLOOMBERG  An HSBC Holdings Plc shareholder in Hong Kong is lobbying institutional shareholders to vote in favour of a proposal to restructure the lender’s business at its annual general meeting on May 5. Ken Lui, leader of the “Spin Off HSBC Asia Concern Group,” has hired Alliance Advisors, a firm specialising in shareholder engagement to help in identifying and contacting ...

BLOOMBERG  A group of lenders led by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has commenced an up to $2.75 billion leveraged loan sale supporting Blackstone Inc’s deal for an Emerson Electric Co unit, according to people familiar with the matter. The new loan is part of a $5.5 billion debt package being brought to public markets that would replace both ...

BLOOMBERG UBS Group AG warned that wealthy clients are turning increasingly risk-averse, adding to challenges for Switzerland’s largest bank as it embarks on the complex task of integrating Credit Suisse Group AG. Shares of UBS fell as much as 5.4% in Zurich trading after the lender reported the weakest quarterly profit in more than three years, along with an outlook ...

BLOOMBERG  Japanese investors are snapping up foreign currencies, local stocks and US Treasuries after the country’s new central bank chief damped speculation he will start normalising policy. Among their investments, Citigroup clients are buying US and Australian dollars to profit from their interest-rate premiums over the yen, said Keita Matsumoto, head of financial institutions sales and solutions at Citigroup Global ...

BLOOMBERG  Credit Suisse Group AG reported 61.2 billion francs ($69 billion) of outflows in the first quarter and took a large writedown at its wealth management unit, underscoring the challenge for UBS Group AG in retaining key clients and assets after the emergency takeover of its biggest rival. The Swiss bank lost more than 200 billion francs ($224.77 billion) of ...

BLOOMBERG  Thailand’s central bank governor said the nation’s main political parties are trying to woo voters with policies that could undermine the country’s longer-term economic health. “Any policies that hurt fiscal discipline — creating moral hazard, destroying credit culture — need to be monitored as they can be risky,” Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput told reporters when asked to ...

BLOOMBERG US bank deposits fell, indicating the financial system remains fragile after a string of bank failures. Deposits decreased by $76.2 billion in the week ended on April 12, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Federal Reserve. The drop was mostly at large and foreign institutions, but they also fell at small banks. Meantime, commercial bank lending rose $13.8 ...