Banking

Bloomberg Problem loans at some of Standard Chartered Plc’s large clients may top $600 million as a string of corporate scandals coincides with woes at firms hit by the coronavirus pandemic. NMC Health Plc, the hospital operator that’s uncovered evidence of fraud, and Hin Leong Trading, the Singaporean trading house being investigated by police, represent nearly $500 million of lending ...

Bloomberg Funders of South Africa’s largest agricultural bank are offering to help the state-owned lender recover from a loan default, but first need an indication from the government on how much support it is willing to give. The Land and Agricultural Development Bank, which provides about 30% of loans in the agricultural industry, failed to make repayments on a credit ...

Bloomberg The US Small Business Administration (SBA) is capping the value of loans individual banks can arrange under a federal economic relief program for small businesses after a fresh infusion of funding. The move reflects concerns among advocates for small businesses that the biggest US banks, which are ready to flood the SBA with applications, could dominate the lending and ...

Bloomberg China should maintain liquidity at a reasonably ample level and offer targeted support to companies hit by the coronavirus epidemic, China’s central bank Governor Yi Gang said. The impact from the virus on China’s economy will be short-lived, and the fundamentals won’t change, according to the article by Yi published by the Economic Research Journal in its March issue. ...

Bloomberg Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said another percentage point of interest rate cuts is possible as the economy heads into its worst economic slump in more than a decade. “Given the extraordinary development of events, adjusting monetary policy in small steps as we are used to may not be enough,” Nabiullina said after the central bank cut by ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG appeal of a record 4.5 billion-euro ($4.9 billion) French fine for helping clients stash undeclared funds in offshore accounts was postponed over concerns related to coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the case. Judges at the Paris Court of Appeals postponed the case, originally scheduled for June, due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus, ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc may need to revise its restructuring plans after the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic settles. Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn told investors that HSBC faced a “very different” context compared to February, when he announced a plan to cut about 30,000 jobs over the next three years. “We will need to consider what additional actions we ...

Bloomberg American Express Co. (AmEx) said it’s seeking to cut $3 billion in costs after the coronavirus pandemic caused a plunge in spending on the firm’s cards. The slowdown the credit-card issuer began to see in March as a result of nationwide shelter-in-place orders has “dramatically” impacted spending on its cards in April as well, American Express warned. Provisions for ...

Bloomberg Bank of Baroda, India’s third-largest state-run lender by market value, plans to raise as much as 135 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) over the next 12 months to improve risk buffers and boost lending. The lender, which combined with two smaller rivals last year, plans to raise 90 billion rupees selling shares and the balance through debt including tier-I capital, ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) will increase emergency bond-buying in the coming months to ramp up support for an economy that President Christine Lagarde sees shrinking as much as 15% this year, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. One in four respondents expect the ECB could boost the size of its pandemic purchase program, when the Governing Council ...