Banking

Bloomberg Former Wall Street trader Edgar Fernandez used some of his Bitcoin as collateral to borrow nearly $100,000, a move that let him keep his cryptocurrency and avert a tax bill on the newly acquired cash. The tax perk stems from a longstanding principle that assets aren’t taxed until sold, much like borrowing against stock holdings. Yet digital currency carries ...

Bloomberg The new head of Japan’s main banking lobby warned the central bank against deepening negative interest rates, signalling such a move could spur risky investment and put further pressure on lenders’ profits. “It will be a quite difficult option to take,” Makoto Takashima, chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association, said in an interview. “Simply speaking, that would cause policy ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) officials pressed the case for continued monetary-policy support as they signalled the euro-area economic slowdown is weighing on inflation. In a foreword to the ECB’s annual report, President Mario Draghi warned of a “persistence of uncertainties” and said there’s a continued need for stimulus to boost inflation. His vice president, Luis de Guindos echoed that, ...

Bloomberg Perella Weinberg Partners LP is hiring Clinton Ray and Guy Morgan from Goldman Sachs Group Inc to expand its European restructuring business, according to people familiar with the matter. The bankers will join the firm in London in June to advise new and existing clients on restructuring, debt advisory and liability management, said the people, who asked not to ...

Bloomberg A criminal probe tied to money laundering allegations engulfing Swedbank AB drew sharp recriminations from both sides over the weekend, and raised serious questions about the role of the board. After the prosecutor accused Sweden’s biggest mortgage bank of refusing to hand over key information, Swedbank’s lawyers responded with claims that investigators were ignoring the norms of Swedish law. ...

Bloomberg Switzerland has room for further easing, though fiscal policy needs to be better utilised to boost long-term growth, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is using some of the world’s lowest interest rates and a threat to intervene in currency markets to stem appreciation on the franc. Yet even with a deposit rate ...

Bloomberg A German banking app backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Li Ka-shing is trying to woo young consumers with free current accounts as it expands outside Europe. In a change of strategy, N26 has decided not to offer its clients a wide range of other banking products for now, preferring to build up its international customer base first. “Regional ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank would need a clear monetary-policy reason to consider acting to mitigate the effects of negative interest rates on banks, Governing Council member Klaas Knot was quoted as saying. “There must at least be some evidence that negative rates are disrupting the impact of monetary policy through their effect on bank profitability,” Knot, who is the ...

Bloomberg The defeat of Theresa May’s stripped-down divorce agreement with the EU means a softer and longer Brexit process is now more likely, according to Goldman Sachs. While there’s still time for London and Brussels to renegotiate the exit deal before the next “cliff-edge” on April 12, the timing of the ratification of a modified pact are now skewed towards ...

Bloomberg French banks are urging Yellow Vests protesters to spare local branch offices as the nation braces for the 20th week of street demonstrations. “Hundreds of local agencies” were vandalised in the past four months and employees have been threatened, the heads of BNP Paribas SA, Credit Agricole SA, Groupe BPCE, Societe Generale, Credit Mutuel and Banque Postale wrote in ...