Banking

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 …

Bloomberg The Bank of Italy replaced its second-highest official and named two new members to its top body following months of tense relations with a populist government that questioned its record on banking supervision. Fabio Panetta, 59, has been promoted to director general to succeed Salvatore Rossi, who told staff this month he didn’t intend to stay beyond the expiration …

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley President Colm Kelleher, who helped navigate the firm through the financial crisis and was once seen as a potential successor to Chief Executive Officer James Gorman, plans to depart at the end of June. Kelleher, 61, will continue as a senior adviser after his official retirement, according to an internal memo Gorman sent employees. “I am extremely …

Bloomberg New York’s financial regulator is asking two Nordic banks for detailed information about their transactions with Danske Bank A/S as part of a burgeoning investigation into global money laundering, according to a person familiar with the matter. The two banks, Nordea Bank Abp of Finland and SEB AB of Sweden, must also give New York’s Department of Financial Services …