Banking

Bloomberg Sweden’s unemployment rate unexpectedly spiked to a four-year high in August, raising questions around the central bank’s plans to hike interest rates and driving the krona lower. The seasonally-adjusted jobless rate jumped to 7.4 percent, much worse than the 6.8 percent reading in a Bloomberg survey of economist estimates. The news, which resulted in a 0.8 percent decline in …

Bloomberg Riksbank policy makers look intent on bringing an end to almost half a decade of negative interest rates, according to minutes from their most recent meeting. The central bank earlier this month delivered an upbeat assessment of the economy and signalled a plan to raise rates towards the end of the year or early next year. The move came …

Bloomberg One of Europe’s most senior banking regulators is switching sides to represent the region’s biggest lenders on policy issues, drawing criticism from lawmakers and advocacy groups. Adam Farkas, currently the executive director of the European Banking Authority (EBA), will become the head of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, the industry group said in a statement. The EBA …

Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials think lowering the negative interest rate, if they chose to do so in the coming months, wouldn’t backfire in financial markets because investors are aware of the possibility, according to people familiar with the matter. While most officials wouldn’t be drawn on when the BOJ might act, some of the officials see little need …

Bloomberg Andre Esteves once joked that Banco BTG Pactual SA, the Latin American investment bank powerhouse he helped create, would one day become “better than Goldman” — a play on the firm’s name. Now, BTG is chasing Goldman Sachs Group Inc down another path, looking to build a digital retail bank for the masses. The firm, under the BTG Digital …

Bloomberg Banks in Denmark have seen their aggregate profits sink this year, according to calculations by the industry’s main lobby group, which has repeatedly urged monetary policy makers to provide relief from long-term negative interest rates. Industry profits fell 20 percent in the first half of this year, Finans Danmark said. Denmark’s 17 biggest banks and mortgage lenders reported after-tax …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest round of easing sent a signal to institutional investors that their inflation hedges may be growing more pointless by the day. In the northernmost corner of the euro zone, a $51 billion pension fund says ECB President Mario Draghi isn’t giving his industry much hope that things will improve. “So far, the less …

Bloomberg PJT Partners Inc has hired Bank of America Corp (BofA) dealmaker Antonin Baladi to build up its European technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) investment banking business, people familiar with the matter said. The London-based banker is joining PJT in a senior role, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Baladi, who was Bank …

Bloomberg India’s biggest bank overhaul in decades to merge state-run lenders beset with bad loans and low capital hasn’t convinced investors to increase holdings of the shares. Fund managers including Aberdeen Standard Investments Ltd and JPMorgan Chase & Co are shying away from increasing their positions in government-owned lenders. As well as poor asset quality at the banks, they cited …

Bloomberg A team of Bank of Montreal (BMO) commercial bankers have traded their suits and ties for Ford F-150 pickups to reach Canada’s remote regions and build up a part of their business that has yet to see a bad loan. Indigenous banking is one area Chief Executive Officer Darryl White targeted in June when he vowed increased support for …