Banking

Bloomberg Banks in Asia’s financial hubs such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. are finding that the disruption from the coronavirus outbreak is helping them push back on a threat from a new breed of virtual upstarts. With branches shut, customers social distancing and fearful of tainted cash, the brick-and-mortar giants are seeing a surge in demand for digital ...

Bloomberg Don’t let anyone tell you regulators haven’t punished Wells Fargo & Co. — or at least its shareholders. The scandal-ridden bank has lost $220 billion in stock-market value since the Federal Reserve imposed an unprecedented cap on the firm’s assets in early 2018, crimping its ability to add customers and loans. The constraints are biting harder this year as ...

Bloomberg Japan’s top banks forecast the biggest bad-loan costs since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, joining other global lenders in bracing for the fallout from coronavirus pandemic. Total credit costs at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will almost double to $10.3 billion in the year ending March 2021, ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) is examining unconventional monetary policy measures more urgently amid the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to its Chief Economist Andrew Haldane. The central bank is reviewing a number of policies — including negative interest rates and expanding the scope of the bank’s asset-purchase plan to include riskier securities — as it ...

Bloomberg A crisis was supposed to be Bitcoin’s time to shine, when the need for an international currency outside the reach of central banks would prove invaluable. That hasn’t been the case. No matter to crypto die-hards. The future is brighter than ever, especially as central banks around the world pump cash into listing economies, threatening a wave of inflation ...

Bloomberg Kenyan banks are expected to hoard cash as they report a jump in first-quarter loan-loss provisions to cope with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Kenyan institutions got a cash boost when the central bank lowered reserve requirements to free up funds for lending, while interest rates have been cut to a nine-year low. Banks have now started restructuring ...

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA reported its biggest loss in more than three years as provisions related to the coronavirus added to the pain of one off costs for job cuts and the writedown of its Turkish unit. The net loss totalled 2.71 billion euros ($2.94 billion), as loan-loss provisions climbed to 1.26 billion euros, the Milan-based bank said on Wednesday. About ...

Bloomberg Capitalworks Investment Partners Pty Ltd. plans to invest 5 billion rand ($270 million) of newly raised cash in mid-sized South African companies hit by a shrinking local economy and the coronavirus pandemic. The firm raised 25% more than planned for its Private Equity Fund III from Morgan Stanley’s Alternative Investments Partners (AIP) unit, institutional investors and wealthy families, Capitalworks ...

Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA is setting aside almost three times the amount it booked a year ago to cover souring loans because of the impact of the coronavirus, the latest lender to try and estimate the damage to its balance sheet from the outbreak. Provisions in the first three months of the year jumped to 621 million euros from 225 ...

Bloomberg Australian bank investors got their first taste of what is set to be a horror earnings season, as National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) reported a 51% plunge in profit, slashed its dividend and embarked on a $2.24 billion capital raising. The early announcement — the lender wasn’t due to report until next week — has shareholders bracing for the ...