Banking

Bloomberg Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) is weighing a bid for a controlling stake in PT Bank Permata, an Indonesian lender backed by Standard Chartered Plc, according to people with knowledge of the matter. OCBC is considering an offer for almost 90% of the $1.9 billion bank, said the people, asking not to be named as the deliberations are private. Singapore’s ...

Bloomberg Ever since negative interest rates became a thing, banks have been too afraid to pass them on to retail depositors. That may be about to change. In Scandinavia, where sub-zero rates have been the norm longer than most other places, the finance industry has undergone several drastic adjustments to survive the regime. Banks have relied more on asset management ...

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc may appoint Alison Rose as chief executive officer, succeeding Ross McEwan, possibly as soon as next week, Sky News reports, citing unidentified people in the industry. Rose, currently deputy CEO of Natwest Holdings Ltd., would be the first woman to head a major UK high-street bank, Sky said. Banking regulators are considering the ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s central bank will have to weigh potential price pressures from the US-China trade war against prospects of a disappointing recovery when determining how long its easing cycle will last. On one hand, worsening trade tensions may push Brazil’s real lower and consequently dissuade policy makers from more aggressive benchmark interest rate cuts. On the other, fresh signs of ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi’s plans for a parting stimulus shot before he retires as European Central Bank president are laced with even more suspense than usual. While the ECB is widely expected to cut interest rates next month, the prospect of a renewed round of asset purchases is shrouded in uncertainty. Investors must judge how much quantitative easing the euro-zone economy ...

Bloomberg Three years into Commerzbank AG Chief Executive Officer Martin Zielke’s turnaround, the party’s over. Shares of the lender fell to a record low, capping a roller coaster ride that saw the stock more than double after the CEO announced his plan, buoyed by expectations for higher interest rates and consolidation in European banking. Zielke has refocused the bank on ...

Bloomberg Australia’s back-to-back interest-rate cuts are flowing through the financial system and into the economy, while the falling currency should provide a similar stimulus to sustained declines of previous years, a senior Reserve Bank official said. “The transmission of monetary policy in Australia to financial conditions is working in the usual way,” Christopher Kent, assistant governor for financial markets, said ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) may have to do more than pump billions into foreign exchange markets into prevent the franc from appreciating to a damaging level. With data suggesting the central bank recently intervened after the currency rose to the highest since 2017 against the euro, an increasing number of economists expect the SNB to reduce its benchmark ...

Bloomberg Absa Group Ltd.’s push to reclaim market share lost while under the control of Barclays Plc is beginning to pay off at the South African lender’s main retail-banking business. First-half net income climbed 5.4% to 7.64 billion rand as Absa provided more personal loans and credit cards, while boosting the revenue it generates from fees and commissions, the Johannesburg-based ...

Bloomberg It doesn’t look like the hub of an online bank. But that’s what the yellow and blue metal kiosk becomes when Albert Agane locks himself behind the metal bars every day at 6 a.m. From his perch along a dusty suburban thoroughfare in Accra, the 28-year-old helps fellow Ghanaians withdraw or deposit cash for accounts they operate from their ...