Banking

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has cut its inflation forecasts again and warned that the global slowdown could worsen. A dramatic change in fortune for the world economy is making it harder for policy makers across major economies to boost price pressures. In Swi-tzerland, franc’s strength agai-nst the euro has exacerbated the issue, which the central bank has sought ...

Bloomberg Direct lenders are gearing up for more business in the UK as they see banks shrinking their sterling corporate loan books in the wake of Brexit-linked volatility and slower economic growth. Private credit fund managers say they are already witnessing an increase in deal flow as traditional lenders turn more cautious in the run up to Britain leaving the ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) said more companies are triggering plans for a no-deal Brexit as it kept policy in a holding pattern while the government takes withdrawal talks to the brink. Around two-thirds of firms surveyed by the central bank said they had started implementing contingencies for a disorderly departure from the European Union. About 80 percent judged ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve nominee Stephen Moore called the Fed’s December interest-rate hike “a very substantial mistake” while adding that he looks forward to working with Chairman Jerome Powell to help ensure the US economy continues to expand. “Everyone would now acknowledge that what they did in December with the rate increase — it was a very substantial mistake,” Moore said ...

Bloomberg The US imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s national development bank and four financial institutions it controls, alleging it helped prop up the government of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro. The penalties were imposed on Banco de Desarrollo Economico y Social de Venezuela, or Bandes, the Treasury Department said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin cited the arrest of opposition leader Juan Guaido’s ...

Bloomberg The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged in Governor Benjamin Diokno’s first policy meeting, as officials remained cautious even as inflation eases. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas held the overnight reverse repurchase rate at 4.75 percent, it said in a statement in Manila, in line with the forecasts of all 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The ratio ...

Bloomberg It looks like a textbook example of political meddling with a central bank in an emerging market, except it’s happening in the US. President Donald Trump said he’s nominating former campaign adviser Stephen Moore to be a governor of the Federal Reserve — potentially putting a political loyalist in lockstep with Trump’s view on juicing the economy into the ...

Bloomberg Big banks extended losses into a fourth day, as 10-year Treasury yields tumbled, the 3-month/10-year yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007, US manufacturing data missed expectations and Europe’s economic outlook darkened. The KBW Bank Index slid 4.5 percent, the most since December 4, to a session low after President Trump said he will nominate long-time supporter ...

Bloomberg Swedbank AB may now be facing substantial fines for money laundering that could put pressure on its capital buffers. Sweden’s oldest bank has so far failed to convince markets that it stayed on the right side of the law amid allegations it was used to launder more than $10 billion from the former Soviet Union. A report intended to ...

Bloomberg India delayed the introduction of tough new accounting rules for the second year running, in a move that will spare the country’s banks from adding another layer to the $190 billion pile of bad loans on their books. The Reserve Bank of India said that legislative amendments needed to implement the new Indian Accounting Standards are still under consideration ...