Banking

Bloomberg The State Bank of Vietnam, in its latest easing move, cut its interest-rate cap for dong deposits and ordered lenders to lower interest rates to support key business sectors. The limit on interest rates was cut to 5% from 5.5% for dong deposits with maturities of one month to less than 6 months, the central bank said in a ...

Bloomberg “Nothing is priced in,” said David Bloom, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at HSBC Holdings Plc, in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The political outcome will determine the future of the currency.” An election result that paves the way to a UK-European Union deal on Brexit could send the pound up to $1.45 by the end of next year. ...

Bloomberg The German government should be applauded for its plans for fiscal stimulus and climate, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. “I want to say we have to give credit to the German authorities,” Georgieva, who took on the role last month, said in a Bloomberg TV interview, pointing to fiscal support contained in next year’s ...

Bloomberg Bank of Japan Governor (BoJ) Haruhiko Kuroda’s role as the prime focus for efforts to revive the world’s third-largest economy is coming to an end. An unprecedented level of concern about damaging side effects of Japan’s multi-decade experiment with ultra-low interest rates has gripped policy makers, regulators and legislators. The key takeaway: fiscal policy is set for a more ...

Bloomberg China lowered the cost it charges on short-term open-market operations for the first time since October 2015, a move aimed at shoring up confidence following a string of poor economic data. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the interest rate on its seven-day reverse repurchase agreements to 2.5% from 2.55%. The authorities also added 180 billion yuan ($26 ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc pointed to routine regulatory requirements to ensure client money is used for stated purposes after a report that the firm is shutting a corporate account that helped fund protest-related activities in Hong Kong — a politically sensitive issue. The bank took action after finding the account was being used inconsistently with its original paperwork, the Hong ...

Bloomberg The Thai baht’s reign as Asia’s best-performing currency is coming under threat from an unlikely source: South Korea’s won. The baht has slumped into the bottom half of the regional rankings this quarter after heading the table for three consecutive three-month periods. The won meanwhile has shrugged off its chronic underperformance and rocketed to the top. The main reason ...

Bloomberg A combination of easing trade tensions and easier monetary policy will lift global growth from the first quarter of 2020, according to economists at Morgan Stanley. Emerging markets will drive the recovery, given the late-cycle stage that US growth is in, they argue. “A 1Q20 recovery is on the cards,” the US bank’s economists led by Chetan Ahya wrote ...

Bloomberg UK lawmaker Peter Hain accused international banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc of aiding and abetting graft in South Africa during former President Jacob Zuma’s rule and earning considerable fees in the process. The lenders enabled members of the Gupta family, who were Zuma’s allies and in business with his son, to launder stolen funds and ...

Bloomberg Soon after taking over as India’s central bank governor almost a year ago, Shaktikanta Das decorated his 18th floor office overlooking the Arabian Sea with two statues of Lord Jagannath, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Revered in Das’s native Odisha state, Jagannath is depicted with round, lidless eyes that are always watching over the welfare of devotees. ...