Bloomberg Indian lender Yes Bank Ltd tumbled by a record in the dollar bond market and suffered another share price plunge after Moody’s Investors Service cut its credit rating to junk, making the lender a so-called fallen angel. Losing an investment-grade score is rare among Indian private-sector banks. The lender is now the only junk-rated one among four such lenders ...
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Puerto Rico to make first bank debt swap deal
Bloomberg Puerto Rico is poised to restructure the Government Development Bank’s debt by exchanging its bonds for $2.6 billion of new securities, the first such debt swap for the US territory since it collapsed into bankruptcy in May 2017. The transaction will restructure about $4 billion of Government Development Bank debt. Under a previously arra-nged agreement, investors will exchange their ...
Read More »Deutsche Bank makes management changes after setbacks
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG’s management changes have yet to run their course. Germany’s largest lender is replacing senior executives in the US and is considering changing staff who tend its relationships with regulators, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The moves come on the heels of strong cuts to the US operations and after authorities in the ...
Read More »India set to push RBI to ease lending curb on weak banks
Bloomberg The Indian government will push its central bank to ease lending restrictions for some weak banks and review rules governing its functioning at a board meeting next month, people with knowledge of the matter said. The members, including government nominees, will press for some of the weak banks to be removed from the so-called prompt corrective action list, particularly ...
Read More »JPMorgan Asset Management expects a rough year ahead
Bloomberg JPMorgan Asset Management is preparing for a rough year ahead in financial markets, and is taking to the higher-quality ground of short-dated Treasuries. Escalating trade tensions will likely be “the single most important issue moving global markets†in 2019, as they were in 2018, analysts wrote in a report on the outlook for the coming year. A deeper trade ...
Read More »StanChart weighs restructuring to cut costs
Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc is weighing a plan to simplify its structure as the emerging markets lender looks to control costs across its sprawling network from Zambia to Macau, said people familiar with the matter. The London-based bank, which operates in about 60 markets, is exploring how to free up liquidity and reduce funding expenses within its different legal entities, ...
Read More »Austria’s ECB stance must change: central bank VP
Bloomberg Austria’s designated next central bank governor Robert Holzmann should argue for a tighter monetary policy in the European Central Bank’s policy-making body, according to the country’s new central bank vice president. Barbara Kolm, an economist appointed to the institution’s non-policy oversight body by the nationalist Freedom Party, told Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse in an interview that she’s “hoping ...
Read More »Banks are vying for dominance in Europe’s east
Bloomberg European banks are vying for dominance in one of the continent’s most dynamic corners. Governments in parts of eastern Europe, where growth is outpacing the euro area, are loosening their grip on state-held assets. Serbia and Slovenia are the latest to offer stakes in their banks, opening up a potential battlefield as OTP Bank Nyrt of Hungary, Vienna-based Raiffeisen ...
Read More »Greece’s Eurobank attempts revival in $8bn bad-loan sale
Bloomberg Greece’s Eurobank Ergasias SA isn’t waiting around for a state rescue, with a plan to sell about 7 billion euros ($8 billion) of troubled loans and merge with a real estate fund. The shares soared, leading the country’s banking index higher. As part of the plan, the bank will merge with real estate fund Grivalia Properties REIC to create ...
Read More »QE end isn’t reduction of stimulus: ECB’s Praet
Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) chief economist Peter Praet said the end of the institution’s bond-buying program — quantitative easing (QE) — this year doesn’t mean policy is being tightened, as he pointed to “increasingly noticeable†headwinds for the economy. The message comes as the Governing Council prepares for its December 13 meeting, when it will publish new economic forecasts ...
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