Banking

Bloomberg Kenya should do more than removing interest-rate caps to boost access to finance and credit extension, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Africa director said. “There is also a need to foster more competition in the banking system,” Abebe Selassie said in an interview in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. The sector should “have effective credit bureaus and quick resolution of disputes,” ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could turn to unconventional monetary policy as soon as February following the decision by lenders to only pass on part of the latest interest-rate cut, according to Citigroup Inc. The central bank is likely to cut again in February, and with lenders’ ability to pass on such reductions now constrained “this date is ...

Bloomberg Swedbank AB faces an increased risk of fines amid allegations its Baltic operations may have handled more than $100 billion in potentially suspicious funds, the lender’s regulator said. Sweden’s financial watchdog gave its strongest indication yet that there’s evidence of serious wrongdoing at Sweden’s oldest bank and biggest mortgage lender. Its findings to date show there could be grounds ...

Bloomberg Thousands of 50-pence coins minted to commemorate Brexit on October 31 will be melted down after Prime Minister Boris Johnson accepted an extension from the European Union, two people familiar with the matter said. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid had announced plans for millions of coins engraved with the date Johnson pledged to leave the bloc, but ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co’s new Manhattan headquarters is meant to be an ode to the both company and the city — a monumental glass-and-steel tower that says the nation’s largest bank grew up here. But New York may be losing its luster. Despite more than two centuries of history in a city synonymous with the global financial industry, JPMorgan ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc embarked on its biggest overhaul in years after profit missed estimates, warning that it will pare back underperforming operations in the face of slowing economic growth and geopolitical uncertainty. The bank, which makes almost 90% of its profit in Asia and employs 240,000 people, walked away from a key profitability target and said write-offs are likely ...

Bloomberg As regular bankers at Nordea Bank Abp brace for yet another round of cuts, those lucky enough to be working in wealth management face a very different future. The head of Nordea’s wealth unit, Snorre Storset, says a plan to cut jobs across the organisation won’t affect portfolio managers in his unit. Storset, who oversees $350 billion in assets ...

Bloomberg Its economy is contracting and the nation’s largest lenders are a mess. And yet, banks from BNP Paribas SA to JPMorgan Chase & Co are scrambling to win business from Germany’s ultra-wealthy. Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Rothschild & Co are also among those planning to beef up in Europe’s largest economy. Several tout the country’s ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s top banking executives were unanimous in cheering the approval of a long-delayed pension overhaul — and quick to line up what they think should be the government’s next priority. With the top item on their wish list now crossed off after years of debates, bankers from Itau Unibanco Holding to Banco BTG Pactual are now championing reforms to ...

Bloomberg Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Ltd, the world’s largest lender by assets, posted a 5.8% increase in third-quarter profit amid a deepening economic slowdown. Net income for the three months through September rose to 83.8 billion yuan ($11.8 billion) from 79.2 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based lender said in a filing. ICBC led the nation’s ...