Banking

Bloomberg Mastercard Inc. closed its office in Sao Paulo and an annex location near its headquarters in New York after an employee contracted coronavirus. The Brazil-based employee traveled to the annex office in Purchase, New York, earlier this week, the company said in a statement. The two locations are undergoing a “thorough sanitisation process,” it said. “While it is believed ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in the first such emergency move since the 2008 financial crisis, amid mounting concern that the coronavirus outbreak threatens to stall the record US economic expansion. The rate cut, which came between the central bank’s regularly scheduled meetings, was announced hours after Group of Seven finance chiefs held ...

Bloomberg European Union (EU) officials are weighing a new crackdown on bank bailouts after national governments exploited loopholes in rules passed in the wake of the financial crisis. One focus of the discussions is the so-called “precautionary recapitalisation” rule that Italy used to inject 5.4 billion euros ($6 billion) into Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA in 2017, according ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s central bank opened the door to more interest rate cuts as it signalled that the outbreak of the new coronavirus creates a bigger risk of an economic slowdown than of a spike in inflation. Policy makers said that they’re closely monitoring the effects of the epidemic on financial markets and on the wider economy. Its impact on Brazil’s ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank governor said he’s ready to act to shield the economy from the coronavirus and reiterated there’s room to cut interest rates if needed. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg News in Mumbai hours before the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in an emergency move, Shaktikanta Das said “there is a strong ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Wednesday it will seek to monitor and stabilise markets, stopping short of following the Federal Reserve in easing policy to respond to the coronavirus epidemic. The BOK said it would consider changes in the policy environment, including the Fed’s 0.5% rate cut and a joint statement from Group of Seven finance chiefs ...

Bloomberg Cracks are starting to appear in rupee’s defences with new coronavirus cases being reported in India. The rupee slid as much as 0.4% to 73.6 per dollar on Wednesday to become the worst performing Asian currency. India has so far reported 28 positive cases, which includes 15 Italian tourists. The currency had stayed relatively stable earlier in the absence ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde belatedly joined the crowd of leading central bankers pledging to take action if needed against the economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak. In a statement, Lagarde said the outbreak is a “fast-developing situation, which creates risks for the economic outlook and the functioning of financial markets.” That echoes communications by the US ...

Bloomberg Malaysia cut its benchmark interest rate on Tuesday, with analysts predicting more easing to come as global central banks boost stimulus to counter the coronavirus’s impact on economic growth. Bank Negara Malaysia reduced the overnight policy rate for a second time this year, lowering it by 25 basis points to 2.5%, as forecast by 15 of 24 economists surveyed ...

Bloomberg Australia kicked off an expected worldwide policy response to China’s slowdown and fallout from the coronavirus with an interest-rate cut that’s set to operate in tandem with fiscal measures to cushion the economic blow. Reserve Bank chief Philip Lowe reduced the cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5%, a new record low, as expected by traders and ...