Banking

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) pledged to keep interest rates at record lows at least through the summer after policy makers met amid rising concern about the region’s growth outlook. The decision came just hours after a report signalled the euro area’s economic slowdown is set to drag on, with the region beset by political strife and global risks ...

Bloomberg If you’re a bond trader at a major bank, the next time you ask for an increase in your position limit, the answer is likely to be based on regulatory stress tests. Seventy-eight percent of global banks now use the tests to assess concentrations and set limits internally, according to a Deloitte survey. That’s up from 67 percent in ...

Bloomberg The biggest issuers of US corporate bonds are easing up on selling new securities, which could translate to gains for investors holding the debt. Banks and other financial companies have sold around $50 billion of bonds so far this year, down more than 40 percent from the same period a year ago. For the largest US banks the decline ...

Bloomberg A free float of Nigeria’s naira would cause capital flight and a “massive devaluation,” according to central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. The nation’s current system of multiple exchange rates had produced the “most optimal results when compared with other emerging markets in recent times,” Emefiele told reporters after a meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC). Emefiele was responding ...

Bloomberg Indian equities — that fluctuated between gains and losses — capped their first advance in three days, boosted by a rally in shares of a private lender after it announced a new chief. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.2 percent to 36,195.10 at the 3:30 pm close in Mumbai, after swinging at least twelve times between a high ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve is examining how Deutsche Bank AG handled billions of dollars in suspicious transactions from Denmark’s leading lender, according to people familiar with the matter, further intensifying what could be one of the biggest money-laundering scandals ever. The Fed’s probe is in an early stage as it scrutinises whether Deutsche Bank’s US operations adequately monitored funds from ...

Bloomberg Norway’s central bank is seen sticking to the script this week to slowly lift interest rates as it assesses the first tightening in more than seven years. Policy makers in Oslo will leave the benchmark rate at 0.75 percent when they announce their decision on Thursday, according to all economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The meeting is in between monetary ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged as it cut its inflation outlook once again, underscoring how far away its price target is and how few options the central bank has for drawing closer. The BOJ maintained its yield curve-control program and asset purchases, it said in a statement on Wednesday, a result predicted by all but one ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s inflation rate reached the mid-point of the central bank’s target range of 3 percent to 6 percent in December — something the Reserve Bank says would allow for flexibility in dealing with price shocks. Consumer-price growth slowed to 4.5 percent from a year earlier compared with 5.2 percent in November, the Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said in ...

Bloomberg Just when the Federal Reserve most needs fresh data to keep its policy in sync with the US economy, the government shutdown is getting in the way. Timely information on economic growth, jobs, consumer spending and inflation is always crucial to monetary policy making. Now, the longest shutdown on record is blocking the collection and reporting of many of ...