Banking

Bloomberg The largest underwriter in the $3.9 trillion municipal-bond market says the rally is about to face a crucial hurdle. Bank of America Corp. (BofA) analysts Yingchen Li and Ian Rogow said they’re watching to see what happens if 10-year benchmark yields hit 0.5% — a threshold that may mark a test of whether investors continue stampeding into the market. ...

Bloomberg Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s (OCBC) profit fell more than analysts anticipated in the second quarter as it joined its Singapore peers in setting aside higher provisions for loan losses during pandemic. Net income dropped 40% from a year earlier to $533 million in the three months ended June 30, Southeast Asia’s second-largest bank by assets said. That missed the S$930 ...

Bloomberg China’s banks need about $500 billion in fresh liquidity this month to roll over existing debt and buy government bonds, complicating the People’s Bank of China’s efforts to exit crisis measures. Monetary policy makers have been signalling for weeks that abundant funding made available to tide the world’s second-largest economy through the coronavirus slump will soon be reined in, ...

Bloomberg It’s early days, but Japan’s biggest banks are broadly on course to meet their modest profit goals this fiscal year after bad-loan costs remained within their expectations in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. all saw quarterly profit decline after increasing provisions for soured debts during Japan’s ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand held its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low and said it was prepared to use “additional appropriate monetary policy tools” to support an economy suffering the biggest blow in Asia from the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank kept its policy rate at 0.5% in a unanimous decision Wednesday. All but two of the 26 ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank is returning to the government bond market after a three-month hiatus as it aims to re-anchor yields on the three-year security that it targets through its purchasing program. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offered to purchase $359 million of federal government securities maturing in April 2023 on Wednesday, under its program to lower yields. Governor ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy decision this week is a tricky one to call, with economists split over whether Governor Shaktikanta Das will lower interest rates again to support a fragile economy and banking sector in the face of above-target inflation. Of the 44 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, 22 expect a 25 basis-point rate cut on Thursday, ...

Bloomberg Commerzbank AG abandoned its goal for a full-year profit after losses tied to the failure of Wirecard AG added to surging costs for bad loans, underscoring the challenges as the lender seeks to emerge from a leadership crisis. The outlook revision was driven by a single case that cost the bank 175 million euros last quarter, it said in ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) is facing pressure from green campaigners to revise its pandemic rescue program after research showed it’s effectively subsidising polluting industries while claiming tackling climate change is a priority. The central bank’s 20 billion pound ($26 billion) Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme favours carbon intensive industries such as energy production and manufacturing, according to a report ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is planning a big boost to its wealth management staff in China in a bid to lift its sagging profits, increasing its presence in the face of mounting political tensions between Beijing and Western governments. In conjunctions with its earnings release, which revealed first-half profit halved, the bank said it’s targeting to hire 2,000 to 3,000 ...