Banking

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is setting aside more than $1 billion to cover writedowns and provisions for bad loans, the biggest such hit in more than a decade as the coronavirus pummels economic activity across the globe. The bank is holding back 568 million Swiss francs ($585 million) for credit losses, almost triple what analysts had been expecting, and ...

Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd. said first-quarter net income declined 27% after Africa’s largest lender prepared for a surge in loan defaults as measures to contain the coronavirus batter business and personal incomes alike. Credit-impairment charges for the three months through March were “significantly higher” than in the prior year, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement. “The increase was ...

Bloomberg A former Deutsche Bank AG veteran’s Japanese cryptocurrency exchange is poised to start trading services just as Bitcoin shows signs of a recovery from coronavirus-fuelled turmoil. More than two years after its foundation, FXcoin Ltd. plans to offer Bitcoin transactions on its platform from May, it said in a statement on Thursday. The firm has recently begun accepting applications ...

Bloomberg Last month HSBC Holdings Plc shocked investors by announcing it would scrap its dividend. For the Hong Kong Medical Association, a group in charge of community public health programs instrumental in the fight against the coronavirus and a long-time investor in the city’s biggest bank, the news meant it would lose 7% of its annual spending budget. With more ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) will accept some junk-rated debt as collateral for its loans to banks in a move that aims to shield the euro area’s most vulnerable economies as they face the risk of credit downgrades in the coronavirus. The ECB will accept bonds as long as they had at least the lowest investment grade on April ...

Bloomberg A South Korean bank is offering bonds to fund the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, joining issuers worldwide issuing such debt. Kookmin Bank is marketing five-year dollar notes whose proceeds will be used to support small and medium-sized firms and mom-and-pop businesses affected by the virus. Investor demand for debt to battle the coronavirus outbreak is expected to grow ...

Bloomberg Bad debt at Chinese banks climbed in the first quarter even as lenders deferred payments on and rolled over a combined 1.5 trillion yuan ($212 billion) in loans after the coronavirus outbreak brought the world’s second-largest economy to a standstill. After allowing banks to take a more lenient approach on how they classify bad debt, regulators in Beijing on ...

Bloomberg Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. plans to issue as many as 65 million shares in a move that will strengthen its capital buffers and reduce the stake held by its wealthy founder. The Mumbai-based lender didn’t provide details of the pricing of the new shares in its filing on Wednesday. However, under a regulatory formula, they should be priced around ...

Bloomberg The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa is in talks with lenders after missing a loan payment and triggering an event of default, leaving its government owner liable for about $302 million of guaranteed debt. The state-owned provider of finance to the farming sector is seeking a waiver after failing to pay what it owed under the ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank may be reducing its intervention in the currency markets as volumes improve and volatility eases. The Reserve Bank of India likely sold a net $1.8 billion in the two weeks ended April 10, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics. That follows likely sales of $7.7 billion in the spot forex market last month, which made the ...