Banking

BLOOMBERG Bank of America Corp (BofA), one of the few major Wall Street banks to avoid mass job cuts in recent months, has begun moving investment bankers into busier areas as the industry deals with a slowdown in dealmaking and capital markets. For years, the company has relied on attrition as a way to manage headcount, Chief Executive Officer Brian ...

BLOOMBERG Bitcoin fell to a three-week low, sapped by the collapse of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital Corp and the prospect of higher-than-expected central bank interest rates. The largest token fell as much as 1.9% on Thursday, dropping for a fourth session, and was trading at about $21,780 in Singapore. Smaller coins ranging from Ether and Solana to Avalanche were subdued. ...

BLOOMBERG Silvergate Capital Corp plans to wind down operations and liquidate its bank after the crypto industry’s meltdown sapped the company’s financial strength, sending shares plunging. “In light of recent industry and regulatory developments, Silvergate believes that an orderly wind down of bank operations and a voluntary liquidation of the bank is the best path forward,” the company said in ...

BLOOMBERG  Sri Lanka’s rupee, which became the world’s best performing currency this year amid hopes of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, may resume declines and lose a fifth of its value against the dollar by end-2023, according to Fitch Solutions. “We are optimistic that Sri Lanka will be able to secure an IMF board approval by early 2Q 2023,” ...

BLOOMBERG  Credit Suisse Group AG has obtained licenses allowing it to launch its wealth management business in China in the first half of this year as well as expand its securities trading and research activities onshore. The bank received its investment consultancy, proprietary trading and nationwide brokerage licenses, according to an internal memo. A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed the ...

BLOOMBERG  Ignazio Visco openly criticised hawkish European Central Bank (ECB) colleagues for making statements about future increases in borrowing costs when officials had agreed not to give such guidance. The outburst by the Bank of Italy governor, in added remarks at the end of a speech in Rome, is a pointed public attack that hints at rising tensions behind closed ...

BLOOMBERG  Bank of England (BOE) policy maker Swati Dhingra cautioned against raising interest rates further, saying that doing so could damage an already weak UK economy. The newest official on the central bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said it would be prudent to hold borrowing costs steady for now and noted there’s little evidence of an inflationary spiral. “Overtightening ...

BLOOMBERG UBS Group AG raised Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers’ compensation for last year by 11%, making him one of Europe’s best-paid bank bosses, even as bonuses for the rest of the firm were cut in a challenging period for dealmaking. Hamers received 12.2 million Swiss francs ($13 million) for his second full year in the job. That included a ...

BLOOMBERG Crypto exchange Bybit is suspending US dollar-denominated deposits and withdrawals via bank transfers, including SWIFT payments. Dollar wire deposits have been temporarily suspended and withdrawals will be halted on March 10, the platform said on its website, citing “service outages from our end-point processing partner.” Bybit said customers can use other methods to buy and withdraw crypto. It didn’t ...

BLOOMBERG Sri Lanka vowed to soon restore a flexible exchange-rate regime after unexpectedly raising its benchmark interest rate as the troubled nation looks to secure a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout to steady its economy. “Sri Lanka’s rupee will be fully market-driven from next week,” Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said at a press briefing after the Central Bank of ...