Banking

Bloomberg The Thai baht’s heady gains are petering out, thanks to slowing growth and a central bank that’s bent on taming the currency’s strength. After clocking an 8% rise this year, Asia’s best-performing currency is losing momentum as easing US-China trade tensions damp its appeal as a haven. Falling yields on local bonds and equity outflows are adding to the ...

Bloomberg From a 35-basis point interest rate cut to embracing a Federal Reserve-style ‘Operation Twist’, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das is pushing the boundaries of conventional central bank policy making to improve rate transmission and spur credit to the economy. The central bank announced it will buy longer-dated debt and simultaneously sell shorter maturity notes in a ...

Bloomberg Indian banks may ask depositors and customers to list their religion, The Times of India reported. The information may be required after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made changes to a banking law that allows selected non-residents to open bank accounts and own property, the report said. Amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations will let immigrant Hindus, ...

Bloomberg Just weeks after Christine Lagarde became the euro zone’s first female central bank chief, neighbouring Britain has chosen to stick with what it’s only ever known for economic policy: men in charge. This month’s decision to install Andrew Bailey as Bank of England (BOE) governor, along with Sajid Javid’s reappointment as chancellor of the exchequer, extend an exclusively male ...

Bloomberg The West African Economic and Monetary Union has agreed with France to a number of changes to the CFA franc currency, including a new name, Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara said, as the West African bloc inches closer to a split from the French-backed currency. The monetary union will keep its euro peg while moving its currency reserve from ...

Bloomberg Traders at HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co are among those who accessed a high-speed audio feed of Bank of England press conferences, according to the Financial Times, which cited an unidentified person. HSBC and JPMorgan declined to comment to Bloomberg News. Investment banks across the City are trying to establish whether their traders used the feed, ...

Bloomberg The former head of HSBC Holdings Plc’s North American interest rates business was sued for fraud by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Christophe Rivoire helped manipulate the price of an interest rate swap between the bank and a bond issuer, the CFTC said in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The agency claimed the issuer had ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp, which tops the league table for US leveraged-loan issuance, is watching that market closely for signs of stress. “The real concern is: Is there too much leverage in the system in certain companies, and if they have trouble, will that impact the economy?” Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank injected the most liquidity via open-market operations since January, in a push to ensure ample cash supply ahead of seasonal tightness at year-end. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added 280 billion yuan ($40 billion) into the financial system with 7 and 14-day reverse repurchase agreements , while keeping the interest rates unchanged. That came after ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) signalled it will focus on the next phase of Brexit negotiations as two policy makers continued to push for an immediate interest-rate cut. Officials said it was too early to tell whether the clearer path for the UK’s departure from European Union (EU) on the back of Boris Johnson’s election win will improve sentiment. ...