Banking

Bloomberg Bank of Canada (BOC) Governor Stephen Poloz said whether he’s done with hiking altogether is a “data-dependent question,” adding the economy continues to work through headwinds that warrant stimulative rates. Asked at a press briefing in Washington about investor expectations that the Canadian central bank’s rate normalisation has come to an end, Poloz said market pricing seems to be ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank President Mario Draghi took the rare step of weighing in on the hot debate over whether President Donald Trump is undermining the independence of the Federal Reserve. Speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, Draghi said he was “certainly worried about central bank independence” and especially “in the most important jurisdiction in ...

Bloomberg Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has an “out of the box” suggestion: central banks need to be more flexible on the size of their interest-rate moves. Instead of a conventional 25 basis point cut and announcement of a dovish, hawkish or neutral stance to give guidance on future actions, policy makers could just change the rate to ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) could reduce its already ultra-low interest rates again if the situation warrants, President Thomas Jordan said. With a deposit rate of minus 0.75 percent, the SNB has already enacted the lowest interest rate of any major central bank. That tool is designed to keep pressure off the franc, which is regarded as a safe ...

Bloomberg Efforts to fight money laundering across the Nordic and Baltic states took a more aggressive turn. Estonia’s state prosecutor is expanding an investigation into Danske Bank A/S to include Swedbank AB of Sweden. Meanwhile, the accounting firms Ernst & Young and KPMG were both reported to the police in Denmark amid allegations they failed to respond to red flags ...

Bloomberg Two of the ECB Governing Council’s leading members gave a tentative welcome to the review of the institution’s negative rate policy announced this week by President Mario Draghi. Speaking at the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, both Chief Economist Peter Praet and Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann signaled they were open to the rethink, though they stopped short of ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. have long been locked in a fierce race to serve US consumers. One is pulling ahead. JPMorgan now generates $2 billion more in revenue from its consumer banking unit than its rival, after trailing Wells Fargo by almost $1 billion just two years ago. Jamie Dimon’s New York firm has ...

Bloomberg A senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) defended the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) 2 percent inflation target as appropriate and important to achieve. “Two percent is what the central banks of major economies are pursuing,” Odd Per Brekk, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific department, said in an interview. “Over time, if this can be accomplished then it ...

Bloomberg Canadian households are wallowing in debt. Home prices are falling. Credit growth, the key driver for bank earnings, is hovering close to its slowest pace since 1983. All of which should be bad news for the country’s lenders — and good news for investors betting against them. “Should” being the operative word. Even with danger signs piling up, the ...

Bloomberg Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo said that he thinks the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates to boost growth, aligning him with President Donald Trump and his latest choices for the Fed board, Stephen Moore and Herman Cain. “I personally think that we’re at a point where they could be reduced a little bit now,” the Idaho Republican said. ...