Banking

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) will offer euro-area banks generous terms on its upcoming long-term loans when it meets next week but won’t do anything to soften the impact of negative rates, economists predict. Respondents in a Bloomberg survey said the interest rate on the two-year loans will be below the ECB’s benchmark rate — currently zero — if ...

Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank cut its growth forecast for this year, opening the door to the possibility that Latin America’s second-largest economy will expa- nd less than 1 percent amid weak industrial production. Growth this year is likely to be 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent, less than previously expected 1.1 percent to 2.1 percent, the central bank said in quarterly ...

Bloomberg United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB) is betting Southeast Asia will shield it from the escalating trade war between the US and China, distancing itself from the approach of its two main rivals that have expanded their focus to Hong Kong and the mainland. “Asean will become a safe haven,” Chief Executive Officer Wee Ee Cheong said in an interview ...

Bloomberg The biggest trading houses on Wall Street are warning of a slump. Citigroup Inc. said trading revenue has declined so far this quarter while Bank of America Corp. indicated revenue is on pace to be about 10 percent lower. They joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. in reporting a downturn for the business. A burgeoning trade war, the UK’s planned ...

Bloomberg Climate change could hit bank balance sheets with a knock-on effect on financial stability, the European Central Bank (ECB) warned on Wednesday. In a special feature for its semi-annual Financial Stability Review on Wednesday, the ECB said problems will materialise if markets aren’t correctly pricing the risks stemming from extreme weather events and the transition to a low-carbon emission ...

Bloomberg The Irish government sna-gged a payment of about 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) from the country’s central bank, according to a person familiar with the matter. The transfer flowed from the bank’s 2018 earnings, said the person, who asked not to be named as the information is private. Details will be published with the regulator’s annual report on Wednesday ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) signalled it expects to lower interest rates this year. It is setting off fresh round of forecasts for deeper policy cuts as economists ponder where the lower bound is Down Under. JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday said it expects the central bank will have to cut its 1.5 percent benchmark 1 percentage ...

Bloomberg Bill Browder, the co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, says the fallout of a money laundering saga involving the biggest mortgage bank in Sweden is “just starting.” During a tour of the Nordic region this week, Browder said he won’t drop his accusations against Swedbank AB even after the Swedish prosecutor declined to take up his complaint, citing a statute ...

Bloomberg Bank of Nova Scotia reported earnings that missed analysts’ estimates as higher provisions for loan losses tied mainly to takeovers hurt results in the fiscal second quarter. Canada’s third-largest lender by assets set aside more money for soured loans in its Canadian banking and international divisions, leading to a 63 percent jump in provisions across the bank. Provisions for ...

Bloomberg Hungary’s central bank kept its monetary policy unchanged despite an uptick in inflation and a weakening forint, pledging to review its setup in June when its updated forecasts are due. Central bankers, who held the benchmark rate at 0.9 percent and the overnight deposit rate at minus 0.05 percent, said financing costs would remain favourable but a cautious approach ...