Banking

Bloomberg South Korean authorities sold a net $3.8 billion in the first six months of the year to intervene in the currency market, compared with $187 million in the second half of 2018, according to central bank data. “It is now confirmed that the authorities constantly conducted smoothing operations during the second quarter when the won weakened rapidly,” said Min ...

Bloomberg A BNP Paribas SA division created to make speculative bets for the bank’s own account lost tens of millions of dollars last year as trading revenue slumped amid volatile markets, leading executives to shutter the business. Opera Trading Capital, which ceased trading in January, posted a loss of $30 million for 2018, filings show. Net banking income before operating ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc’s shortlist for its next chief executive officer includes Stephen Bird, Citigroup Inc’s head of global consumer banking, and RSA Insurance Group Plc CEO Stephen Hester, Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper reported. HSBC hired Egon Zehnder to help with the search process, the newspaper said, without saying where it got the information. The report said a key consideration ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s board is backing CEO TidjaneThiam ahead of a crucial meeting that will determine who takes the blame for a botched spying scandal, according to people familiar with the matter. Recent expressions of support by shareholders for senior executives is swaying the board, which has few obvious successors for Thiam should he be ousted, the people ...

Bloomberg The scene: a street in Zurich. The mark: a wealthy Swiss banker. His pursuers: hired goons looking for intel. It sounds like something ripped from John Le Carre. In fact, it’s real-life — and not all that unusual in the world of high finance. News that Credit Suisse Group AG had hired private investigators to tail a star banker ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank placed lending restrictions on Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd, adding to the company’s troubles after its chief executive officer abruptly quit last month and police registered a case of alleged fraud. Lakshmi Vilas Bank, which is seeking a merger with financier Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd to reduce its delinquent debt, was informed it would be brought under ...

Bloomberg A reduction of Greece’s fiscal targets would support the country’s economic and social recovery, the International Monetary Fund said. In 2020, the IMF recommends that “the government and European partners build consensus around a lower primary balance path, given ample economic slack and critical unmet social spending and investment needs,” according to the fund’s statement after the conclusion of ...

Bloomberg Jefferies Financial Group Inc’s earnings took a hit from an unlikely source: WeWork’s dropping valuation. Third-quarter revenue came in below even the lowest analyst expectationas the company’s merchant banking unit wrote down the value of its investment in We Co by $146 million. Net revenue fell slightly to $777 million despite increases in both fixed-income and equities trading, Jefferies ...

Bloomberg Behind-the-scenes regulatory requirements imposed on the largest US banks may help explain one mystery spawned by recent turmoil in an obscure, but important, slice of the multitrillion-dollar money market. Dealers and policy makers alike have wondered why big banks didn’t step in as rates on overnight repurchase agreements soared to record highs. Those banks have about $1.4 trillion deposited ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co named Charlie Scharf chief executive officer, marking a new era in the bank’s efforts to turn itself around after a series of scandals claimed two previous CEOs in the past three years. Scharf, the CEO of Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon Corp, will replace interim chief Allen Parker on October 21, capping a wide-ranging ...