Banking

Bloomberg Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina hinted at a bigger-than-normal interest-rate cut when the central bank meets next week, stressing that monetary easing is now the “main option.” “We are looking at different economic scenarios and weighing how much room we have to ease monetary policy and what size of steps we should take,” Nabiullina said in her final ...

Bloomberg Brazilian banks are snapping up a renewed wave of local corporate bonds after a sell-off sent yields soaring and left funds reeling from record withdrawals. As local bond spreads rise more than four-fold in secondary market, investors say companies in need of cash are opting to sell new debt directly to banks, which often charge lower yields than institutional ...

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 ...