Banking

Bloomberg India’s central bank governor laid the ground for more interest rate cuts as he took a number of steps to boost liquidity and support lenders amid a nationwide lockdown that’s brought the economy to a virtual standstill. Governor Shaktikanta Das kept the benchmark repurchase rate unchanged at 4.4%, but signalled that inflation will ease to below the central bank’s ...

Bloomberg Banks in Denmark expect the Covid-19 crisis to hit them hard in the second quarter, with anticipated losses bigger than at any time during the financial crisis, according to the central bank. More lenders anticipate reporting bigger impairments and losses than at any other time in the poll’s history, according to a quarterly survey. With first-quarter earnings reports imminent, ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it will offer loans to brokerages and insurers to ease funding strains as coronavirus pandemic roils markets. South Korea’s central bank has slashed the policy rate to a record low and taken steps in tandem with the government to extend liquidity to financial companies. Yet some non-banking firms are still scrambling to fund daily ...

Bloomberg UK banks must get on with providing loans to small and medium-sized businesses to counter the economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Bank of England (BOE) Governor Andrew Bailey. Asked about scenarios presented by the public spending watchdog this week that showed economic output could plunge 35% in the second quarter, Bailey said that isn’t implausible. The ...

Bloomberg The US central bank said it will disclose information regarding borrowers who seek emergency aid through its forthcoming corporate credit facilities. “The Federal Reserve will publicly disclose information regarding the CCFs during the operation of the facilities, including information regarding participants, transaction amounts, costs, revenues and other fees,” according to a frequently-asked-questions page posted Friday on the New York ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. has hired a new head lobbyist in Washington, as the bank works to restore its standing after a series of consumer-abuse scandals that have tarnished its brand and infuriated lawmakers. Brian Smith, 52, will join Wells next month, according to a memo sent out by William Daley, the bank’s vice chairman of public affairs. Smith, ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. (BofA) followed two big rivals in setting aside billions of dollars for loans likely to sour amid an almost total US economic shutdown. Profit plunged 45% as the company allocated $4.76 billion for loan losses, the most since 2010, as businesses and households reel from the coronavirus pandemic. The bank joins competitors JPMorgan Chase & ...

Bloomberg Default risks for India’s banks have declined from six-year highs on expectations that recent policy support will help the lenders avoid worse damage from the coronavirus pandemic. Average credit-default swaps on five Indian lenders, including State Bank of India, have dropped sharply since the Reserve Bank of India unleashed a 3.74 trillion rupee ($49 billion) stimulus package on March ...

Bloomberg A disappearing spread between money-market rates and expected policy equivalents indicates the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) official cash rate may no longer serve as the floor for borrowing costs. The three-month bank-bill swap rate — a gauge of Australian borrowing costs — has continued to slide, with its spread over a similar-tenor overnight index now poised to fall ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc.’s bond traders just posted their best quarter in eight years — a feat that was no match for the tidal wave of souring loans that walloped the bank’s profits. The deadly pandemic that sent global markets swooning helped the firm’s fixed-income, currencies and commodities traders generate $4.79 billion, trouncing analysts’ estimates by more than $1 billion. But ...