Banking

Bloomberg Singapore’s currency may tumble to the lowest level since 2017 if the central bank responds as strongly to the spread of the coronavirus as it did to the Sars epidemic two decades ago. That’s the view of Tan Teck Leng, a macro strategist at UBS Group AG’s Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Office, who thinks the Monetary Authority of ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc Chairman Mark Tucker promised a strategy reboot. Investors got what some called more of the same — pledges to cut costs and do more with less. The shares plunged by the most since 2017 after buybacks were shelved for two years and the executives themselves said more bad news was still to come — once they ...

Bloomberg Plunging oil prices stemming from the coronavirus outbreak led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut its estimate for Nigerian economic growth, highlighting the difficulties Africa’s top crude producer faces reviving and diversifying its economy. The forecast was lowered to 2% from 2.5%, the lender said after concluding an Article IV consultation. Nigeria needs a major policy overhaul to ...

Bloomberg Unione di Banche Italiane (UBA) SpA, Italy’s fifth-largest bank, plans to pay out 40% of net income to shareholders on average over the course of its three-year strategic plan and may make an extra payment if capital is strong enough. UBI expects to eliminate about 2,030 positions and close 175 branches through 2022, the Bergamo, Italy-based bank said. That’s ...

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sending a small mission to Ukraine for talks on economic expansion as the government struggles to finalize a $5.5 billion loan. The team will visit Ukraine “for technical discussions on policies to achieve stronger growth and safeguard stability,” IMF resident representative in Ukraine Goesta Ljungman said. No time frame for the visit was ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s mass purchases of Treasury bills is creating distortions in money markets and that may make it harder for Eurodollar traders who bet on the interest-rate outlook. What started as an attempt by the Fed to relieve strains in money markets is having an unintended impact on some of the world’s most important borrowing benchmarks. As the ...

Bloomberg First it was the Federal Reserve. Then the European Central Bank (ECB). Now, India’s monetary authority may look to the Bank of England (OBOE)for ideas to revive growth, economists say. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could possibly draw inspiration from BOE’s Funding for Lending Scheme to jump start loan growth in the economy that’s set for its weakest ...

Bloomberg European equities are trading at fresh record highs, and JPMorgan Chase & Co strategists say the rally can go on and even expand to markets that have been left behind. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed at a historical peak last week after earnings optimism outweighed spreading coronavirus fears. To JPMorgan strategists, the fact that the European benchmark has ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank provided medium-term funding to commercial lenders and cut the interest rate it charges for the money, a move widely anticipated by analysts to cushion the economy from the virus epidemic. The People’s Bank of China offered 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) of one-year medium-term loans on Monday. The rate was lowered by 10 basis points to ...

Bloomberg “Nobody trusts you,” lawmaker Joerg Meuthen told European Central Bank (ECB) chief Christine Lagarde, switching briefly to English during a tirade in his native German. “You should be aware of that.” The far-right Alternative for Germany representative was railing about negative interest rates — and while enduring bluster is par for the course for ECB presidents, the February 6 ...