Banking

Bloomberg Senior People’s Bank of China (PBOC) officials reassured foreign companies that the currency won’t continue to weaken significantly, a day after the yuan fell below 7 per dollar for the first time since 2008. The central bank held a meeting with a number of foreign exporters in Beijing, at which officials also said that companies’ ability to buy and ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc’s Swiss private banking unit agreed to pay about 294 million euros ($329 million) to settle a Belgian criminal probe into allegations it helped wealthy clients dodge hundreds of millions of euros in taxes. The preliminary agreement in Belgium’s largest criminal settlement still needs to be approved by a judge at a hearing that should take place ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday for the first time in more than four years to boost the economy, and said it sees more room to ease as global risks surge. The Monetary Policy Committee voted five to two to cut its key rate by a quarter-percentage point to 1.5%, the central bank ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by an unconventional 35 basis points, its fourth reduction this year to support a slowing economy. The repurchase rate was reduced to 5.4%, the lowest since 2010, surprising most of the 40 economists surveyed by Bloomberg who had predicted a quarter-point cut. AasthaGudwani, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s central bank signaled an acceleration in economic growth will be slow even as a benign inflation outlook clears the way for more benchmark interest rate cuts and the government readies new stimulus. Gross domestic product (GDP) was likely stable or slightly positive in the second quarter and growth will probably show “some acceleration” going forward, policy makers wrote ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. has grown concerned the US-China trade war will persist long enough to dent any potential profit rebound for corporate America. Tobias Levkovich, the firm’s chief US equity strategist, cut his earnings forecast for S&P 500 companies this year by $3.80 to $166.20 a share. Global stocks have tumbled this month amid concern that the US-China trade spat ...

Bloomberg It used to be that a buildup in foreign reserves was seen as a bulwark against currency shocks and swift turns in investor sentiment. Those days seem far away — and that defense less robust — as the trade conflict between the US and China evolves into a full-blown currency war that’s threatening emerging markets globally. Reserves of central ...

Bloomberg European banks lobbying for special treatment on new capital rules are in for a disappointment. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said the bloc should stick closely to what was agreed at a global level when it implements new regulations in the region, according to a report. It specifically rebuffed suggestions from banks on how to tailor the rules to ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) holdings of US stocks touched a record $92.7 billion in the second quarter, benefiting from a rise in equity markets. The SNB’s US regulatory filing is one of the few glimpses into its vast investment portfolio, amassed as a consequence of its interventions to weaken the franc. It revealed stakes in 2,554 US companies, ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. is getting into the burgeoning esports market, joining a funding round for Matcherino Inc., a provider of software and services for running competitive video-gaming tournaments. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital and technology investment firm Galaxy Digital are putting in $1.5mn for an undisclosed percentage of Matcherino, bringing the startup’s current funding round to more than $4.1mn, ...