Banking

Bloomberg A 151-year-old Swiss bank is among the first wave of smaller lenders deploying robots for basic tasks to drive down costs and is considering expanding its use of the technology. After a successful test run, St. Galler Kantonalbank AG decided to employ three bots for jobs such as compiling information and using it to fill out forms. The company ...

Bloomberg Banks across the globe have announced more than 48,500 job cuts this year as the outlook for the economy weakens. Nowhere was that more pronounced than in Europe, where lenders are bracing for a continuation of the negative interest rates that have eaten into their profits for the past five years. Germany’s troubled Deutsche Bank AG tops the list ...

Bloomberg Norway’s central bank is growing increasingly uncertain about raising interest rates next month as global risks mount and monetary policy makers around the world unleash more stimulus. Norges Bank left its key rate unchanged at 1.25%, as anticipated, and said its June rate outlook, which indicated a rate increase next month, was “little changed” even as it highlighted global ...

Bloomberg One month into Deutsche Bank AG’s boldest restructuring effort yet, the world has turned against Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing. Or at least, Germany has. Fears of an economic recession and the specter of even lower interest rates have taken a toll on banks across Europe. But for Sewing, who just pinned his bank’s future on closer ties with ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank will likely roll over maturing debt to ease liquidity in the financial system as the economy slows amid the trade dispute with the US. The People’s Bank of China is expected to roll over 383 billion yuan ($55 billion) of medium-term lending facility loans due to mature on Thursday, analysts said, after July industrial output growth ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) blasted banks for slow-walking their Brexit preparations, telling them they must move additional staff and resources to the European Union in case Britain leaves without a deal on October 31. The central bank said that firms have transferred “significantly fewer activities, critical functions and staff” to their EU operations than originally foreseen as part ...

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 ...