Banking

Bloomberg China took a major step towards reforming its system of interest rates, in a move aimed at pushing down the cost of borrowing by households and companies as the economic growth slows. From August 20, new loans must be priced “mainly” with reference to a revamped benchmark that tracks the price of credit to banks’ best customers, the so-called ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s rupiah has braved headwinds both at home and abroad to escape largely unscathed in the recent emerging-market (EM) sell-off, and the nation’s central bank is largely to thank for that. Bank Indonesia’s repeated interventions to maintain currency stability have helped soothe investor nerves, with the rupiah’s 0.8% loss this quarter making for the second-best performance among Asian EM ...

Bloomberg KCB Group Ltd. first-half profit jumped 5% as the East African nation’s largest lender earned more interest income from investing in government securities and providing business loans. Net income in the six months through June was 12.7 billion shilling ($123 million), Chief Finance Officer Lawrence Kimathi told investors. That matched estimates by African Alliance Securities Kenya. Net interest income ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. has cut its 2020 earnings estimates for US stocks based on the projected impact of incoming tariffs and pinpointed companies that could be particularly affected by the levies. “Tariffs remain the largest source of risk for equities,” strategists led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas wrote in a note. The bank is reducing its 2020 earnings estimate for ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner is searching for his successor after overseeing a tumultuous period marked by multiple restructurings, top management changes and a slumping share price. The search is partly in response to shareholder criticism about succession planning, though Achleitner intends to complete his term expiring in 2022, people with knowledge of the matter said, ...

Bloomberg Berenberg, Germany’s oldest bank, has given up hope that US-China trade tensions will subside any time soon — with severe consequences for export-reliant nations. Economists slashed their 2020 growth forecasts for countries including Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. They expect the euro area will expand by just 0.9%, down from 1.4% predicted only a few months ...

Bloomberg South African banks are concerned that some of their customers will get away with not having to repay their debt. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Credit Amendment Bill into law, setting the groundwork for over-indebted consumers to have payments suspended, in part or full, for as many as 24 months, or even scrapped if their financial situation has ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp., (BofA) the biggest underwriter of state and local government debt, isn’t worried that municipal-bond yields will turn negative, even if they do in other parts of the US fixed-income markets. Bond yields have been plunging fast, making it seem possible that American investors could actually wind up paying governments to lend them money — as ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank said it’ll start releasing a new reference rate for bank loans, a further step in a long-awaited reform to interest rates that’s set to bring lower borrowing costs to the economy. The People’s Bank of China will announce the new loan prime rate, (LPR), at 9:30 am on the 20th of every month, starting this month, ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. slashed growth forecasts for the “Asian Tigers” as their exposure to the world economy — once one of their greatest strengths — is now backfiring as global growth slows amid trade tensions. “Besides their own domestic reforms, they all benefited enormously from the broader context of globalisation and the rapid economic development of the Asia-Pacific ...