Banking

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 ...

Bloomberg Everyone is lining up to attack Sweden’s currency, from investors to the country’s leaders. The krona’s four-year slump has led to soul-searching in the Scandinavian nation about whether the policies pursued in the wake of the financial crisis have backfired. Banks are slashing their outlook for the krona, a former prime minister has suggested dumping it for the euro ...

Bloomberg Swedbank AB has hired the law firm Nordia as its external legal counsel to handle a criminal investigation into potential fraud, amid a growing money-laundering scandal that has engulfed the bank. Swedbank fired Chief Executive Officer Birgitte Bonnesen as laundering allegations against Sweden’s oldest bank and biggest mortgage lender pile up. The lender is being investigated by the financial ...

Bloomberg A former Mizuho Bank Ltd executive — who was fired for taking a part from a bicycle in the company storage shed — is suing the bank, saying it used the episode as a “convenient way” to get rid of him after he complained about bullying and potential regulatory breaches. Marius Caracota, who worked as a relationship manager for ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan gave in to critics and abruptly stepped down, after the 31-year company veteran struggled to tame a range of scandals, launching the fourth-largest US bank into a hasty search for a successor. Sloan, 58, will be replaced on an interim basis by the firm’s general counsel, C Allen Parker. The ...