Banking

Bloomberg The biggest US and European banks added 19,000 people to their payrolls in first half of year as demand for loans and other services surged during the pandemic and planned staff cuts were largely put on hold. Eight of the top 15 firms increased headcount this year through June, while only four reduced it. Three lenders’ staff levels were ...

Bloomberg The fortunes of India’s shadow lenders are showing signs of turning, suggesting stimulus measures from policy makers will help the troubled sector weather some of the fallout from the pandemic. Premiums that investors seek to buy AAA rated five-year bonds of non-bank lenders over similar-maturity government notes narrowed the most last month since at least 2012, helping a gauge ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s financial-services sector, which accounts for 4.5% of total employment, may see more job losses during the second half of the year as the country goes through its worst recession ever, the central bank warned on Wednesday. Banks, insurers and other financial institutions held up well during the first six months when the sector created about 1,500 jobs and ...

Bloomberg Barclays Plc is moving some top bankers to its new sustainability teams as it seeks to gain a larger foothold in providing financing and advice for activities that help mitigate climate change. Justin Peagram, previously a managing director in the natural-resources group, will now focus on sustainable energy and other emerging-growth areas as part of the sustainable and impact-banking ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank expanded its quantitative easing program and said it’s open to cutting interest rates into negative territory as a new coronavirus outbreak threatens the economic recovery. The Reserve Bank increased its Large Scale Asset Purchase program to as much as NZ$100 billion from NZ$60 billion, and extended it until June 2022, according to a statement on ...

Bloomberg ABN Amro Bank NV will cut its investment bank by about a third and shut down lending outside of Europe as the Dutch bank tries to turn around business hit hard by the market chaos caused by the coronavirus crisis. ABN Amro will stop providing corporate finance outside Europe and exit trade and commodity financing altogether, the Dutch bank ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs strategists raised their profit estimates for S&P 500 after a record number of companies beat analyst expectations. Strategists at the bank led by David Kostin lifted their 2020 EPS estimates to $130 from $115, expecting an overall 21% profit contraction versus last year’s levels. The second-quarter results also re-affirmed the team’s confidence in their 2021 EPS estimate ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy review has come and gone but it’s done little to calm traders’ nerves over an unprecedented government bond supply. Their patience is running thin as the RBI refrained from taking steps to ease the market’s debt burden at a policy review last week, even as the government plans to sell 12 ...

Bloomberg Barclays Plc is being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office, a privacy watchdog, on allegations it spied on its workers through a computer monitoring software, the Telegraph reported. A spokesman from the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed the probe to the paper, but couldn’t say when it will conclude. The Telegraph said Barclays faces a maximum fine of 865 million ...

Bloomberg Banks operating in Hong Kong are stepping up scrutiny of their customers and at least one US bank is moving to suspend accounts to avoid running afoul of US sanctions slapped on city officials, putting them at risk of violating the controversial security law imposed by China. Asking not to be named discussing clients, people familiar with the decision ...