Banking

Bloomberg German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz signalled support for a “national champion” in the banking industry, amid speculation that the government is seeking to drive forward a potential merger of Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG. While he stopped short of explicitly spelling out a plan for Germany’s biggest lenders, Scholz’s comments at a Bloomberg event in London are the ...

Bloomberg With weeks to go before Brexit, it’s not just UK politicians who are bitterly divided over the country’s withdrawal from the European Union — large banks are also at loggerheads. British lenders and their Wall Street rivals are pushing widely different views on Brexit, a clash that was highlighted at a meeting last week with UK government officials, people ...

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA sees more opportunities in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom seeks to diversify its economy away from oil, the bank’s chief executive officer for the Middle East said. “One of the major things is the launch of the renewable energy program which is a big thing for all the countries in the region and we will definitely ...

Bloomberg The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to double its funding for infrastructure development in Kenya this year if government bureaucracy in approving projects eases. The Luxembourg-based lender targets to disburse 200 million euros ($227 million) of loans, half of which will be available for the Kenya Ports Authority to refurbish berths at East Africa’s busiest sea-port in Mombasa county, ...

Bloomberg National Australia Bank Ltd shares fell after the chief executive officer and chairman both resigned, becoming the highest-profile casualties of a sweeping inquiry into misconduct in the country’s financial industry. Andrew Thorburn, 53, and Chairman Ken Henry, 61, announced their departures, just days after being the target of withering criticism in the Royal Commission’s final report, which questioned whether ...

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA is shrinking its markets business and cutting an additional 500 million euros ($567 million) of costs to combat the market rout that sent trading revenue tumbling. The Paris-based bank is replacing global markets head Frank Drouet and cutting about 8 billion euros ($9.1 billion) of risk-weighted assets. SocGen will review less profitable fixed-income and currencies activities ...

Bloomberg Romania left borrowing costs unchanged as the central bank complains that surprise tax measures to shore up the budget are restricting its ability to function. The benchmark was kept at 2.5 percent for a sixth straight meeting, matching the predictions of all but one economist surveyed by Bloomberg. The fiscal package, which triggered the country’s biggest market crash since ...

Bloomberg The secret behind Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s surprise U-turn on monetary policy can possibly be found in comments he made in New York a year and a half ago. Asked how he’d respond to what was then a hypothetical scenario of below target price rises and low unemployment, Powell replied: “My own view would be that we have ...

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc is considering options for its Islamic banking unit in Malaysia, including a potential sale, people with knowledge of the matter said. The London-based lender has been gauging interest from potential buyers for the business, known as Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd, according to the people. It is weighing an exit from Malaysia’s Islamic banking market as fierce ...

Bloomberg The Philippines central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second straight policy meeting, while cutting inflation forecasts for this year and next. The overnight reverse repurchase rate was held at 4.75 percent, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement in Manila. The decision was in line with the forecasts of all 22 economists surveyed by ...