Banking

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. will gradually start bringing traders back to its London offices in the coming weeks as UK leaders continue to craft plans to ease social distancing restrictions. The firm will begin by restoring traders and other employees from its markets and securities services unit to its offices in London, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Korea (BOK) cut rates to a record low and forecast the first economic contraction since the Asian financial crisis, but stopped short of offering clarity on what future steps it might take to shore up an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Following the BOK’s unanimous decision on Thursday to cut the seven-day repurchase rate to ...

Bloomberg The worst crisis in more than two decades among Indonesia’s smaller companies will boost loan losses and curtail profit at nation’s largest lender, according to PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Finance Director Haru Koesmahargyo. Bank Rakyat expects more than 10 million customers in its core segment — micro, small and medium enterprises — to be affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, ...

Bloomberg Bank of Montreal (BMO) had about C$180 million ($130 million) in trading losses on a single day in March, a sign of just how risky stocks were as the coronavirus outbreak became a global pandemic. The loss, disclosed in a quarterly presentation, marks the company’s worst trading day in more than a decade. “On that day, there was significant ...

Bloomberg One of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) key policy makers signalled that the institution is very likely to boost its emergency bond-buying program to fight the coronavirus. With inflation low, there is room to innovate and act “rapidly and powerfully,” Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told a conference in Paris. He also signalled that he’d like ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is taking full control of its German business as Europe’s largest lender restructures its global operations. The bank will acquire an 18.66% stake in HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG from Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, a regional lender in the south of Germany, according to statements by the banks. They didn’t disclose a price. HSBC is pivoting to Asia ...

Bloomberg People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang said the central bank will focus on five measures to support credit provision to the real economy, following the government’s announcement of more “direct” support in its annual policy blueprint released last week. In the near future officials plan to roll out more measures to enable small firms to delay repayment ...

Bloomberg Incoming Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem will face a combination of rising prices and stagnant growth as the economy struggles to recover from coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. That’s the forecast from Canadian economist David Rosenberg, who sees prices increasing as consumers feel comfortable shopping again and production costs rising even as the economy underperforms — an unusual combination known ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG is setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars of its own money to invest in fintech companies, joining peers in financing startups that are upending traditional banking. The Swiss wealth manager is planning a corporate venture capital fund to make investments between $10 million and $20 million in dozens of companies, according to a person familiar ...

Bloomberg One of the Bank of England’s (BOE) key policy makers played down the possibility of an imminent cut in interest rates below zero, saying that “reviewing and doing are different things.” Andy Haldane, BOE’s chief economist who more than a week ago said officials were assessing negative rates, added that policy makers weren’t ruling any options out “as a matter ...