Banking

Bloomberg Commerzbank AG plans to withdraw from locations including Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Hungary as part of its previously announced restructuring, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. Asia sales activities will be bundled in Singapore and the Dubai branch will continue to operate as a representative office, it said. In South America, the German lender plans to sell ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc said it expects to eventually shrink its property footprint by 40%, the latest sign of how the pandemic is changing the role of the office. Europe’s largest bank would reduce its “real estate footprint” over the long term, Group Chief Operating Officer John Hinshaw said in a call with analysts after bank reported fourth-quarter results. Last ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG are relocating a number of bankers to mainland China from Hong Kong to better compete for deals after the world’s fastest growing major economy relaxed curbs on foreign financial firms. Credit Suisse moved three directors, including Vivian Feng, Richard Kot and Felix Meng, as well as four more junior bankers, to ...

Bloomberg Lloyds Banking group Plc beat forecasts with a pretax profit of 792 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in its fourth quarter, helped by a buoyant UK housing market and government support for its borrowers. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender announced a dividend 0.57 pence per share, marking the end of a year without payouts to protect lending during the pandemic. In ...

Bloomberg Poland’s state-controlled PKO Bank Polski SA wants to end the legacy of its Swiss-franc mortgage lending this year, piling pressure on the rest of the industry to follow suit. The country’s biggest bank will seek shareholders’ approval to offer conversion of foreign currency loans to all borrowers once the pilot program it’s running with selected clients is over, Chief ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is concerned that cryptocurrencies may impact financial stability in Asia’s third-largest economy, a view that could shape looming regulations on the asset that is breaking price-records around the world. The monetary authority has conveyed these “major concerns” to government, Governor Shaktikanta Das said in an interview to CNBC TV-18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will probably signal its readiness to lower its negative interest rate by pledging to mitigate any harmful impact such a move would have at a review next month, according to a former BOJ official in charge of monetary policy. “The BOJ likely wants to restore a rate cut as a viable option,” Kazuo Momma ...

Bloomberg Canada’s largest banks are within striking distance of resuming profit growth — with the help of government programs that prevented major loan losses. The country’s six biggest banks are expected to post an 11% average decline in adjusted earnings per share when they report fiscal first-quarter results next week, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The comparable quarter ...

Bloomberg Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender is looking to generate as much as 30% of profit outside its home market, following a series of acquisitions spanning East and West Africa last year. The lender expects African subsidiaries and its UK unit to account for about 25-30% of profit before tax in the next three to five years from 21% ...

Bloomberg China’s banking regulator imposed new restrictions on banks and financial institutions working with online microlenders including those led by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, dealing further blows to one of the fastest-growing business segments for financial-technology behemoths. Banks must cap overall joint lending with internet platforms or other partners at no more than 50% of their outstanding loans, the China ...