Banking

Bloomberg UBS Group AG Chairman Axel Weber said markets are underpricing the risk that the coronavirus poses to the global economy. “There is going to be quite a bit of impact that is going to go beyond the first quarter and that is where fiscal response, providing businesses with some tax relievers, some emergency funding, that is going to be …

Bloomberg Banque Misr SAE is seeking to borrow $250 million from international lenders this year to boost financing at home, while it presses on with plans to expand into three countries it’s targeting in sub-Saharan Africa. Egypt’s second-largest state-owned lender will use the debt to finance small- and medium-size enterprises, among other purposes, Chairman Mohamed Eletreby said in an interview. …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) expects the euro-area economy to bounce back from the coronavirus outbreak, Chief Economist Philip Lane said, playing down concerns that the region could slip into a downturn that requires another interest-rate cut. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV in New York, Lane acknowledged that the full impact of the disease remains unknown, and …

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard called for the adoption of new strategies by the central bank to achieve its 2% inflation goal and fight off future recessions. The Fed should seek above-target price gains to make up for past inflation shortfalls and should cap Treasury debt yields if it’s forced to lower short-term rates as far as they can …

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) plans to start a new “direct-to-consumer” business in the US to increase deposits and ultimately broaden out its offerings to a more mainstream clientele. The expansion is likely to come at the end of 2020 or early next year, and will be focused initially on higher-net-worth customers, Chief Executive Officer David McKay said during …

Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda shrugged off speculation that the yen is losing its status as a safe asset and blamed its depreciation on the dollar. “I don’t think there has been a fundamental change in the situation of foreign-exchange rates,” Kuroda told reporters on Saturday in Riyadh, where he is attending a Group of 20 meeting. …

Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co renewed their long-time credit-card partnership through 2029, capping months of negotiations. The new deal, and an amended pact with Visa, gives United an extra $400 million this year, according to a regulatory filing by the airline. United declined to provide additional details on the financial impact of the agreement. Revamping …

Bloomberg Hinduja Group Ltd is partnering with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP in seeking to pick up a stake in embattled Yes Bank Ltd, according to people familiar with the matter. Representatives of Cerberus and the UK-based Hinduja group, run by brothers Gopichand Hinduja and Ashok Hinduja, met Reserve Bank of India officials earlier this month regarding the …

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reiterated that global economic growth appears to be bottoming out, though also cautioned that risks including the coronavirus dominate the outlook. “After a marked slowdown last year, global economic activity is expected to moderately strengthen in 2020,” the IMF said in a surveillance note released on Wednesday. “Monetary and fiscal policy actions were instrumental …

Bloomberg Metro Bank Plc handed its interim chief executive officer (CEO) the reins, months after the struggling lender’s previous boss resigned in the wake of an accounting scandal. Dan Frumkin, who has led the bank on an interim basis since the start of the year, takes over the London-based lender’s permanent role with immediate effect. Frumkin, 55, joined the business …