Banking

Bloomberg The path to a Bank of England (BOE) interest-rate cut as soon as this month became clearer on Wednesday after inflation unexpectedly slowed to a three-year low. The pound fell and traders increased bets that policy makers would reduce rates on January 30, as the shock reading reinforced speculation fuelled by dovish comments from BOE Governor Mark Carney and ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced plans to conduct repurchase agreement operations through until at least February13, although the size of term operations will be trimmed to $30 billion from the start of next month. The central bank did not elaborate on plans beyond that. The move extends a programme that has been in place since it ...

Bloomberg China added liquidity to the financial system on Wednesday, helping to offset a cash squeeze ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. It kept interest rates on the loans unchanged. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added 300 billion yuan ($44 billion) through the medium-term lending facility at 3.25%, according to a statement from the central bank. It also ...

Bloomberg The euro-area economy is starting to regain its footing, two European Central Bank officials said, suggesting monetary policy will stay on hold for now. Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told bankers in Paris that recessions in the US or Europe can practically be excluded this year. Speaking earlier in Frankfurt, Executive Board member Yves Mersch said ...

Bloomberg In the two years since the US-China trade war erupted, Australia’s dollar has weakened around 10%. It may drop even further when the dispute is resolved. The Aussie could slide more than 5% to 65 US cents this year, according to QIC Ltd and Capital Economics. If Beijing buys more American goods at the expense of Australian products as ...

Bloomberg Paras Shah, Citigroup Inc’s head of high-yield credit trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and one of its highest-profile traders, has left the bank, according to people familiar with the matter. The 31-year-old departed this month, according to some of the people who aren’t authorised to speak publicly and asked not to be named. Shah worked at ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration lifted its designation of China as a currency manipulator, saying the nation has made “enforceable commitments” not to devalue the yuan and has agreed to publish exchange-rate information. The change in the US stance was outlined in the US Treasury Department’s semiannual foreign-exchange report to Congress. The document was released two days before America and China ...

Bloomberg Michael Patra was appointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), beefing up the leadership of the institution at a time of economic and banking stress. Patra takes office for a period of three years from the date of joining or until further orders, according to a statement from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. He’ll be ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG won an early release from a ban on sponsoring initial public offerings in Hong Kong, setting it up to once again broker deals in the world’s busiest market. The lifting of the ban comes after UBS “engaged and cooperated” with an independent 10-month review over its policies, procedures and practices, the Securities and Futures Commission said ...

Bloomberg Visa Inc grew into one of the world’s most valuable financial companies by serving as the pipes that help connect banks and merchants. Now, it’s making a major bet on doing the same for data between banks and financial startups. Visa agreed to pay $5.3 billion for Plaid, a fintech firm that connects popular apps like Venmo to customers’ ...