Bloomberg UBS Group AG signalled the worst hit of the coronavirus crisis on its balance sheet may be over, prompting the bank to consider reviving shareholder payouts as it seeks to boost the shares. The Swiss bank — while warning of uncertainty ahead — attracted $9 billion of net new money at the private banking business in the second quarter ...
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Danske Bank to axe over 1,000 jobs
Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S may need to cut at least 1,000 jobs if it’s to meet its latest cost goals, according to analysts monitoring the lender. Danske’s chief executive, Chris Vogelzang, told Bloomberg that he’s planning “significant†staff cuts in an effort to bring expenditure under control. Given the lender’s stated cost targets, that entails a “low four-digit number,†according ...
Read More »Citi, UBS pause return-to-office plans in Hong Kong amid virus
Bloomberg Global banks including Citigroup Inc. and UBS Group AG are suspending their return-to-office plans in Hong Kong after the city reported a daily record of more than 100 new coronavirus cases. Citigroup, which had already asked as many as 70% of staff to work from home last week, is now asking most people to do so starting Monday, according ...
Read More »Standard Chartered to add 1,600 staff at new bank center in China
Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc plans to add more than 1,600 staff over the next three years at a new center in southern China as the nation aims to transform the coastal region near Hong Kong into a high-tech hub to rival California’s Silicon Valley. The London-based bank is investing $40 million in the Standard Chartered Greater Bay Area Centre in ...
Read More »China’s small lenders are filling up on riskiest kind of bank debt
Bloomberg China’s cash-strapped small lenders are expanding their pile of the riskiest kind of bank debt to shore up their capital levels, bracing against an economic slowdown, rising loan defaults. A total of 19 banks have sold 339.6 billion yuan ($48.5 billion) perpetual bonds, high-yielding subordinated bonds with no maturity dates this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Smaller ...
Read More »SNB defends currency intervention as essential
Bloomberg Currency intervention is an “essential†policy tool for Switzerland, its central bank chief said, in a riposte to the US which has the country on a watchlist for allegedly manipulating its exchange rate. “Even though we still have scope for further interest-rate cuts, the fact remains that one cannot lower interest rates indefinitely,†Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Thomas ...
Read More »African central banks face end to cutting cycle at July meet
Bloomberg After aggressive interest-rate reductions to shore up their economies against the havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, central bankers in most sub-Saharan African countries will ask themselves whether the cutting cycle is over when they meet over the next nine days. South Africa’s monetary policy committee (MPC) may take advantage of the scope to lower its benchmark rate even ...
Read More »Intesa raises offer for UBI by adding $746mn cash
Bloomberg Intesa Sanpaolo SpA sweetened its takeover offer for UBI Banca SpA by adding 652 million euros ($746 million) in cash as it tries to win approval of Italian investors hit by the pandemic. The Italian bank will pay additional 57 euro cents for each UBI share tendered in the offer in addition to the share swap it announced in ...
Read More »Barclays sees headwinds in second half
Bloomberg Barclays Plc warned of challenges to its capital strength and souring loans at its consumer and corporate businesses as British lenders gear up to battle deteriorating economic conditions. The UK’s third-largest bank by market value said its earnings later this month will “reflect challenging income and impairment conditions for the consumer and corporate businesses, and continuing strength of markets ...
Read More »Fed may adopt yield-curve caps, ex-chairs Bernanke, Yellen say
Bloomberg Former Fed Chairs Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen warned that the US economic recovery from the coronavirus shock could be slow and uneven and said the central bank may opt to cap yields on Treasury securities to help it along. “It is possible, though not certain,†that the Fed will implement yield-curve control, they wrote on the Brookings Institution ...
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