Banking

Bloomberg A growing number of top European Central Bank (ECB) officials are voicing support for ending the de facto ban on banks paying dividends during the pandemic, laying the groundwork for a resumption next year and a return of investor confidence to the sector. Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau became the third ECB governing council member to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump formally nominated Brian Brooks to take over a key banking regulator, potentially forcing Joe Biden to fire him after the president-elect is sworn in. The White House said it had sent the nomination to the Senate, where Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo has already signalled that Brooks would get a confirmation hearing for a five-year ...

Bloomberg China’s finance sector should open up further to support the “dual circulation” economic strategy and mitigate risks in the industry, a central bank official said. More liberalisation in the financial sector would provide extra support to the real economy, according to Liu Guiping, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). He was speaking at a forum organised ...

Bloomberg Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) SA and Banco de Sabadell SA ended short-lived takeover talks in a disagreement over the price, setting back consolidation in a banking market hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussions about a purchase of Sabadell by BBVA to create the second-largest domestic lender in Spain collapsed after the two sides couldn’t agree on the ...

Bloomberg French lender Credit Agricole SA offered to buy Italy’s Credito Valtellinese for about 737 million euros ($875 million) in cash as consolidation accelerates in European banking. The unsolicited bid of 10.50 euros a share, made through its Italian unit, represents a 21.4% premium to the November 20 closing price, according to a statement from Credit Agricole. The French lender, ...

Bloomberg President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to serve as his Treasury secretary, people familiar with the matter said, choosing the first woman and a seasoned central banker for the nation’s top economic policy job as the coronavirus pandemic threatens another US downturn. In Yellen, Biden is likely to find support from both Wall ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc is planning a European stock trading platform to ensure its clients can still buy and sell shares even without a post-Brexit agreement to allow dealing in London. The Wall Street bank has applied to French regulators to start a Paris-based trading venue called SIGMA X Europe, according to the company. It intends to open before ...

Bloomberg Governments and central banks face a tricky balance between shocking the economy if they end pandemic support too soon, and undermining it if they keep measures in place too long, according to a European Central Bank (ECB) report. Noting the sheer scale of the fiscal, monetary and regulatory support, it said the effort has been “vital” in helping companies ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG expects to book a $450 million impairment on its stake in York Capital Management as the US firm winds down most of its hedge-fund strategies, the latest blow for the bank after a series of setbacks this year. The charge, which could still change, will be booked in the fourth quarter in the asset management ...

Bloomberg Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender, plans to more than double customer numbers over the next three years by expanding in the rest of Africa. The Lagos-based lender is creating a holding company structure that will enable it to diversify into other financial services separately from the banking business. Access Bank, which has plans to be present in 22 ...