Banking

Bloomberg UBS group will permanently allow as many as two-thirds of its employees to adopt a hybrid model of working from home and the office, according to a person familiar with the plans, as it seeks a competitive recruitment edge over some US banks taking a more hardline approach. The lender’s move is being led by CEO  Ralph Hamers. The ...

Bloomberg Kakao Bank, the internet-only lender backed by South Korea’s Kakao Corp, plans to raise as much as $2.3 billion in an initial public offering, joining a rush by the nation’s companies to sell shares. The bank is selling 65.45 million new shares at between 33,000 won and 39,000 won apiece, according to a filing. At the top end of ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank struck a more positive tone in its quarterly monetary policy meeting, saying the economy is showing more stability and improvement even though domestic and global risks remain. The monetary policy committee of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) largely reiterated its stance to keep policy, liquidity and the exchange rate steady, according to a statement. It ...

Bloomberg Chinese banks’ stockpile of foreign-currency deposits has surpassed $1 trillion for the first time, creating an opportunity for Beijing to allow greater freedom for capital to flow out of the country. The pool has been growing as surging demand for Chinese goods during the pandemic has beefed up foreign earnings of exporters, while the resilient economy and strengthening currency ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc is taking another step into the world of cryptocurrencies. The Wall Street giant will help its richest clients bet on crypto as part of a new digital assets group inside its burgeoning wealth management unit, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. The new effort will be led by Alex Kriete and Greg Girasole. ...

Bloomberg Visa Inc has agreed to buy Swedish open-banking platform Tink AB as the payment giant looks to expand beyond its card network. San Francisco-based Visa said it will pay a total of 1.8 billion euros ($2.15 billion) — including cash and retention incentives — to acquire the fintech firm, according to a statement. Banks and startups use Tink to ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Korea (BOK) once again looks set to spearhead Asia’s first interest-rate hikes, after Governor Lee Ju-yeol said policy normalisation is in the pipeline this year, triggering a recalibration of market bets. As pandemic-era stimulus runs the risk of inflating asset bubbles and spurring more volatility in capital flows across the region, several central banks have stressed ...

Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank is seen holding its key interest rate at a five-year low, as policy makers expect that recent price shocks will prove to be transitory. The bank, known as Banxico, unanimously voted to keep borrowing costs at 4% in its last two meetings, after inflation hit 5.9% in May — far above the bank’s 4% target ceiling. ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) pushed back against speculation that a surge in UK inflation means it’s preparing to boost interest rates, saying the economy still needs support to recover from the pandemic. The central bank warned against “premature tightening,” toughening its language on the need to maintain stimulus. The remarks contrasted with a sharp increase in the bank’s ...

Bloomberg Greater Sydney was put into a two-week lockdown to fight an outbreak of the highly-transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, straining Australia’s so-called “Covid-zero” strategy as vaccinations lag behind other developed nations. Residents can only go out for reasons such as food shopping, medical care or essential work and education that can’t be done from their own homes, New ...