Bloomberg Germany’s federal government plans to increase gross borrowing by around 15 percent to 199 billion euros ($226 billion) next year to accommodate refinancing of the nation’s “bad bank†fund that was set up during the height of the financial crisis. The government will sell 156 billion euros in bonds and 43 billion euros in short-term bills, according to the ...
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Australia central bank sees rates on hold
Bloomberg Australia’s economy faces a trifecta of risks that could disrupt household spending and the central bank’s outlook for faster economic growth and falling unemployment. In minutes of its last policy meeting for the year, the Reserve Bank (RBA) struck a slightly dovish tone. It noted a “generalised tightening of credit availability†in the economy even as it stuck to ...
Read More »Swiss National Bank cuts inflation forecast
Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) cut its inflation forecast and showed no inclination of moving off its crisis-era settings, citing franc’s strength and mounting global risks. Investor anxiety about Italian politics, trade tensions and Brexit has put upward pressure on the franc in recent months, dragging it further away from its April low against the euro. Highlighting those risks, ...
Read More »Fed enters brave policy world as rates near normal levels
Bloomberg As the Federal Reserve approaches the final stages of monetary policy normalisation 10 years after it cut interest rates to zero, it faces the tough task of charting a less certain path while taking incoming fire from President Donald Trump. Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues are expected to ignore Trump’s criticisms and raise interest rates this week for ...
Read More »Raid on Deutsche Bank hasn’t helped revenue, says CFO
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG’s quarterly revenue was impacted by the raids on its Frankfurt headquarters, Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke told Bloomberg. “The raid has not helped us on the revenue side, especially in a weak market environment like we have seen in December,†von Moltke said in email comments. “We expect these negative effects to fade away soon ...
Read More »More banks in crosshairs as Denmark tax probe grows
Bloomberg Denmark is trying to find out just how many banks were involved in suspicious stock trades executed for the sole purpose of getting a tax rebate. The transactions in question started more than a decade ago, after Denmark and Switzerland made it possible to claim back taxes on dividends through a revised double-taxation accord between the two countries. Nordea ...
Read More »Borrowers brace for end of easy money
Bloomberg Bankers and borrowers are bracing themselves for a difficult year selling eurobonds now that the days of easy money are coming to an end. January’s often the busiest month of the year for new bond sales but as credit markets lose their biggest backer and political threats loom — Brexit, Italian fiscal angst and trade woes — companies must ...
Read More »StanChart spins off private equity unit
Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc reached an agreement to separate its private-equity unit, ending more than two years of effort by Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters to get out of the business. Intermediate Capital Group Plc said on Monday that its funds are buying a majority of the bank’s private-equity assets in a transaction valued at about 790 million pounds ($997 ...
Read More »Bond trading at Canada’s big banks hits lowest since 2011
Bloomberg Canada’s biggest banks suffered the worst decline in bond trading revenue since 2011 as volatility pushed investors to the sidelines. Revenue from trading fixed income, currencies and commodities fell 8.1 percent to C$6.32 billion ($4.72 billion) at the six large Canadian lenders in the latest fiscal year, a further erosion from the 6.1 percent decline in 2017, according to ...
Read More »Peru holds rates at 2.75% as economic recovery loses steam
Bloomberg Peru’s central bank held borrowing costs unchanged as tame inflation allows it to keep stimulating the economy after growth slowed in the third quarter. The central bank board, led by President Julio Velarde, kept benchmark lending rate at 2.75 percent for the ninth consecutive month. That matched the forecast of all 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. “The board considers ...
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