Banking

Bloomberg Thailand’s trade surplus with the US exceeded $20 billion, raising the chances it will be added to the US Treasury’s watchlist of currency manipulators. The surplus reached $20.05 billion in the 12 months through November, according to US Census Bureau data released in Washington. That exceeds the $20 billion limit the US Treasury has set for bilateral goods trade ...

Bloomberg Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves signalled that the bank’s decision to raise its main rate to zero last month won’t be followed by more tightening for a very long time. According to minutes of the bank’s December meeting, Ingves said he’s even willing to let inflation exceed the bank’s target for a while. That said, he also defended the decision ...

Bloomberg The risk of a US-Iran conflict is bringing fresh focus to the question of what Jerome Powell meant when he said it will take a “material” change in the outlook for the Federal Reserve to raise or lower interest rates. The answer so far — as investors wait to see how Tehran responds to the US killing of its ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG expects to cut as many as 500 private banking jobs as the lender moves forward with a wealth management overhaul aimed at strengthening regional units and speeding up decision making. As part of the revamp, UBS will split up the private banking business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, giving Caroline Kuhnert responsibility for central ...

Bloomberg The race to find a rescuer for a struggling Indian shadow bank at the center of an industry crisis has narrowed. Altico Capital India Ltd is one of the latest caught up in the nation’s shadow banking crisis that started in 2018, and had been courting suitors. One of them, Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd, won’t make a binding bid ...

Bloomberg Singapore has received “strong interest” in its effort to open up the banking industry to fresh competition after 21 groups made bids for digital licenses, the financial regulator said. A “diverse group” lodged applications, including e-commerce, technology and tele communications companies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Tuesday, without identifying the parties. Seven were for digital full-bank ...

Bloomberg China’s surging consumer inflation will rise further on the current oil spike, but the jump won’t last long and probably won’t affect the pace of monetary easing in 2020, according to Citigroup Inc. Consumer inflation in China will hit 5% in January as higher oil prices combined with a low base from 2019 drive up the cost of vehicle ...

Bloomberg Asia’s best carry trade is suddenly in Hong Kong, where the local dollar has strengthened to an almost three-year high. Elevated local rates are increasing the appeal of owning the city’s currency, after years of depreciation wagers. Selling the greenback and using the proceeds to buy Hong Kong dollars has delivered Asia’s highest Sharpe ratio — a measure of ...

Bloomberg China pledged to step up measures to shore up its troubled banks and small businesses while continuing a crackdown on shadow banking and property speculation, in a difficult balancing act that risks exacerbating a build up in bad debt at its traditional lenders. As concerns mount over the state of China’s $45 trillion financial system, the nation’s central bank ...

Bloomberg The pound rebounded from its new year hangover, on speculation the Bank of England could avoid an imminent cut to interest rates following a post-election economic boost. Sterling advanced against all major peers and halted its losing streak since the start of 2020, after the UK’s services sector unexpectedly showed signs of strengthening. This may ease pressure on the ...