Bloomberg South Africa is in talks with non-banking lenders to join its 200 billion rand ($12 billion) loan-guarantee measures as it seeks to improve access to finance for businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The government-backed program will have less stringent approval processes and extend repayment periods, the National Treasury, the South African Reserve Bank and the Banking Association of ...
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Bank of Japan may have a new pattern for when it buys stocks
Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) may have adopted a new standard in deciding when to support stocks, according to Seiichi Suzuki, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute Co. While market consensus has it that the BOJ purchases ETFs when the Topix index falls at least 0.5%, recent buying patterns have changed, Suzuki said. “The bar for ETF ...
Read More »Treasury, UK banks make plans for Covid bad debt
Bloomberg The Treasury is in talks with the UK’s largest banks about a plan to tackle billions of pounds of bad debts expected under government’s Coronavirus loans program for small businesses, the Financial Times reported. Part of the discussions centers on a common code of conduct to deal with bounce-back borrowers, which could include guidance on when and how to ...
Read More »Bankers who profited from Nordic hiring boom in firing line
Bloomberg A few years ago, the biggest banks in one of the richest corners of the globe were adding thousands of jobs to a department that suddenly seemed more important than most others: compliance. But with headcount growing more than 10-fold in some cases, those same jobs are now at risk. This month, Danske Bank A/S warned of “significant†cuts, ...
Read More »AfDB approves $97.7mn loans, grants to fight virus
Bloomberg The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved loans and grants for several nations to ward off the Covid-19 pandemic as infections multiplied across the continent. The lender will provide $97.7 million for Rwanda’s budget to help the nation strengthen its health-care system, buttress economic resilience and mitigate the pandemic’s impact on the most vulnerable people. Under the worst-case scenario, Rwanda’s ...
Read More »Axis Bank picks arrangers for $1.3b share sale
Bloomberg Axis Bank Ltd., India’s third-largest private sector lender, has picked advisers including BNP Paribas SA and Credit Suisse Group AG to manage its proposed share sale. The Mumbai-based lender has also chosen HSBC Holdings Plc and UBS Group AG for the offering, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. Axis Bank plans ...
Read More »Deutsche Bank signals better results for 2nd straight quarter
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG signalled better-than-expected results ahead of earnings for the second straight quarter, adding to signs of progress in Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing’s historic turnaround plan. The bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio, a key metric of financial strength, also unexpectedly increased, rising to about 13.3% at the end of June from 12.8% three months earlier, according ...
Read More »Credit Suisse set to score a smaller role on Ant’s mega IPO
Bloomberg In the initial list of four sponsors for Ant Group’s mega initial public offering in Hong Kong, one bank’s name was conspicuously missing: Alibaba’s go-to bank Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse Group AG has been fighting for a major role in the offering and Ant is leaning towards naming them as a joint global coordinator for its Hong Kong listing, ...
Read More »Japanese bank installs robots to scan ‘hanko’ documents
Bloomberg Japan’s largest bank is installing giant robot scanners to digitize millions of documents, as it seeks to break from the long tradition of using paper records to verify its customers’ identities. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. will use the machines of Ripcord Inc. to scan 300 million pages of files that record clients’ personal seals known as hanko, the ...
Read More »Wells Fargo hires Mike Santomassimo as CFO
Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. veterans may have to get used to hearing “Well, at JPMorgan.†The San Francisco-based lender hired Mike Santomassimo as its next chief financial officer, marking the latest in a wave of JPMorgan Chase & Co. veterans that Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf has enlisted atop Wells Fargo. Scharf, a one-time Jamie Dimon protege who spent ...
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