Banking

Discontent among HSBC staff ahead of business review

Bloomberg A survey of HSBC Holdings Plc’s 237,000 staff has highlighted falling morale as employees brace themselves for job cuts in a strategy review due later this month. At HSBC’s European arm, confidence in the direction of the bank dropped 21 points in the second half of 2019 compared to the first half, according to an internal document seen by ...

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Italian banking mergers nowhere in sight

Bloomberg Consolidation in Italy’s banking industry will probably be postponed — again. Potential tie-ups were high on the agenda of the bankers who gathered in the northern town of Brescia for the Assiom Forex conference, but no one seemed ready to take the first step. The current regulatory framework and Italy’s poor economic prospects will probably delay deals that analysts ...

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Deutsche Bank seeks 50% haircut on India firm’s debt

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and SSG Capital Management have made a joint bid for an Indian power producer’s debt of 60 billion rupees ($842 million), according to a person familiar with the matter. The consortium has submitted a binding bid of about 31 billion rupees for the delinquent debt of Chennai-based Coastal Energen Pvt, the person said, asking not to ...

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World’s lowest rate may soon be raised in Denmark

Bloomberg Denmark and Switzerland have long shared the world record in negative interest rates, at minus 0.75%. But that may be about to change. Economists at some of the biggest Nordic banks say Denmark, which pegs the krone to the euro, is likely to raise its key rate in the coming months. Not long ago, they thought a cut was ...

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Irish property stocks lead slide after Sinn Fein surge

Bloomberg Irish stocks slid on Monday after polls put Sinn Fein in place for a possible role in government, fuelling declines in banks and property shares given that the party’s policies include a wealth tax and a freeze on residential rents. The benchmark ISEQ Index slid as much as 1.4%, with Bank of Ireland Group Plc and AIB Group Plc ...

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Fed warns coronavirus poses risk to global growth, markets

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve Board said that the coronavirus outbreak presented a “new risk” to the economic outlook for the US and warned of disruptions in global markets. “Because of the size of the Chinese economy, significant distress in China could spill over to US and global markets through a retrenchment of risk appetite, US dollar appreciation, and declines in ...

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IMF’s Lipton, Grasso depart as Georgieva shakes up leadership

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) top deputy, David Lipton, will depart after nine years, handing President Donald Trump a chance to install an ally at the head of the institution. Lipton and another senior official are leaving in the first significant shakeup of the leadership team by Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who took office in October. Lipton, the IMF’s ...

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Two more held in Germany over tax scandal

Bloomberg Two former managers of a German bank were arrested in a money-laundering probe linked to Denmark’s $2 billion Cum-Ex tax scandal. The two North Channel Bank managers were taken into custody on February 4, prosecutors in the German city of Koblenz said in a statement. It’s part of a probe into the actions of the pair and five other ...

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BofA leaves CEO’s pay unchanged at $26.5m

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) awarded Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan $26.5 million for 2019, unchanged from a record amount a year earlier. Moynihan, 60, received $25 million in stock grants and a $1.5 million salary, the bank said in a filing. While he hasn’t received a cash bonus since 2007, part of his stock award will settle in ...

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Rising unemployment would trigger rate cut: RBA chief

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank chief Philip Lowe signalled his board is firmly on hold for now, saying further cuts to the nation’s already historically-low interest rate risk doing more long-term damage to the economy than the short-term benefit they would create. “While it’s plausible that we can move towards our goals, at least right at the moment the risks have ...

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