Banking

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 ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings apologised to customers in Hong Kong after an update to its online and mobile banking terms stoked fears over overseas access to its services in the financial hub. The quick mea culpa by Hong Kong’s biggest bank — triggered by a Twitter post — underscores growing concerns in the city over not only civil society but also ...

Bloomberg Danske Bank has been charged by Danish police for allegedly violating rules intended to protect investors from market manipulation. Denmark’s biggest bank, which is separately being investigated in the US and Europe amid an ongoing money-laundering case, says it received notice of preliminary charges from the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime, or SOIK. The case ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s central bank held its benchmark rate unchanged, signalling a need to preserve policy space as the country grapples with its biggest wave of Covid cases and a weakening outlook for the tourism-reliant economy. The Bank of Thailand’s rate setting committee unanimously decided to hold rates at a record low of 0.5% for a ninth straight meeting, as expected ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) said it will start overseeing “systemic” investment firms as a long-planned legal change adds to responsibilities that have steadily expanded in recent years. Firms with more than 30 billion euros ($35.8 billion) of assets that underwrite or trade financial instruments on their own account will now have to apply for banking licenses under new ...

Bloomberg The Irish government plans to sell part of its 676 million euro ($807 million) stake in Bank of Ireland group over the next six months or so, the latest stage in its bid to recoup the bank bailout that almost bankrupted the nation. Part of Ireland’s 13.9% shareholding in the bank will be sold through a pre-arranged trading plan ...