Banking

Bloomberg Weaker global growth and trade protectionism could start to gnaw on company investment in the euro area, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). “Increasing uncertainties at the global level constitute a downside risk to the outlook, particularly for business investment,” according to an article to be published in the ECB’s bulletin. Malin Andersson and Benjamin Mosk argue there’s ...

Bloomberg Germany’s NordLB will be bailed out by public-sector savings banks and the state of Lower Saxony at a cost of as much as 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion), thwarting a bid by Cerberus Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners for a stake in the struggling lender. The restructuring package, which Lower Saxony Premier Stephan Weil called “the best of all ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s change in tone may mean investors should reconsider the timing of the investment cycle, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That means investors shouldn’t be driven by fears of recession for now, JP Morgan analysts said. The Fed signalled last week that it’s done raising rates for at least a little while, and that it’ll be ...

Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S may be facing billions of dollars in fines for its Estonian laundering scandal, but its employees don’t need to worry about having their bonuses cut. Jesper Nielsen, who’s been running the bank on an interim basis since Thomas Borgen was relieved of his duties as chief executive in October, says there might be some bonus adjustments ...

Bloomberg Philippine central bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said a quick reversal of last year’s monetary tightening — either through a reduction in the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves or a cut in key interest rates — would be “bad economic or monetary policy.” While inflation in the last two months of 2018 cooled from a ...

Bloomberg The final report of an inquiry into misconduct in Australia’s financial system will land with a thud at National Australia Bank Ltd.’s headquarters. It’s just not the size of the three-volume report, but the blast aimed at Chief Executive Officer Andrew Thorburn and Chairman Ken Henry, who testified during the Royal Commission’s final round of hearings. “Having heard from ...

Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S isn’t expecting to see financial losses as a result of the client flight triggered by its money laundering scandal, according to its interim chief executive officer, Jesper Nielsen. The bank said it lost about 11,000 retail customers in Denmark, net, last year. It also pointed to “negative impact” of the laundering case on its corporate clients ...

Bloomberg Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco joined his European counterparts in signalling that economic growth will be much weaker than predicted, warning of the implications for euro-area inflation. “The prospects for the Italian economy are less favourable today than they were a year ago,” Visco, who sits on the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, said in a speech to ...

Bloomberg Natixis SA, the French bank that had sought growth in risky trading businesses, is looking to sell the portfolio of complex Korean derivatives that blew up in the fourth quarter, losing almost $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm has approached potential buyers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and BNP Paribas SA to gauge their ...

Bloomberg Jerome Powell this week marks his first year as chairman as the Federal Reserve under pressure to deliver on the commitment of his opening day to explain “what we are doing and why we are doing it.” Powell hosts a town hall meeting with educators in Washington on Wednesday, a day after he celebrates his anniversary. He does so ...