Banking

Bloomberg A setup long acknowledged as dubious but tolerated in many countries just got thrown into the limelight. Shell companies — constructions often used to hide the identity of investors keen to dodge authorities — played a key role in Europe’s dirty money machine as billions of dollars flowed from Russia into the west. Danske Bank A/S was allegedly at ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Greece released details on how it proposes lifting much of the burden weighing on the country’s lenders under a complex plan involving securitisations and the shifting of tax credits. The plan foresees the transfer to a special purpose vehicle of a significant part of banks’ non-performing loans at net book value, along with a portion of ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Canada plans to buy for the first time government-backed mortgage bonds in a bid to broaden the range of high-quality assets in its operations to manage its balance sheet. The move, which is part of a decision of including government-guaranteed debt issued by federal Crown corporations, will allow Ottawa-based central bank to offset continued growth in ...

Bloomberg The South African Reserve Bank increased its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than two years as it sees inflation risks remaining elevated. The Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise the benchmark repurchase rate to 6.75 percent from 6.5 percent. Of the six panel members, half preferred the increase and the rest favored an unchanged stance, ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank officials warned that uncertainty and tension over Italy’s expansive budget risk causing damage to the country’s economy in the long-run. “Italy’s current financing conditions are much too tight for a country with weak growth and low inflation,” ECB Chief Economist Peter Praet told Handelsblatt in an interview. Italian central bank Governor Ignazio Visco urged his government ...

Bloomberg When it comes to US banks’ lending risk, it doesn’t get much bigger than General Electric Co. The five biggest Wall Street firms have committed to lending at least $3.5 billion each to the industrial giant facing concerns about the sustainability of its debt. GE has almost $41 billion in credit lines it can draw from, according to its ...

Bloomberg Investors in Deutsche Bank AG have added the lender’s role in Danske Bank’s money laundering scandal to their growing list of worries. A management shakeup, weak earnings and political turmoil saw Deutsche Bank shares hit multiple lows this year. Now, concerns about its involvement in Europe’s biggest money-laundering scandal are weighing on the stock after the key whistle-blower pointed ...

Bloomberg Big US banks that are already smashing profit records will soon get a $5 billion windfall, courtesy of the federal government. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp announced that lenders will no longer have to pay quarterly surcharges that cover some of the costs of insuring their customers’ deposits. Megabanks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America ...

Bloomberg Mark Carney has at least four more opportunities before the end of the year to talk about Brexit, with his words potentially taking on greater weight as the split gets closer. The political process is grinding towards a parliamentary vote in coming weeks — date yet to be decided — on the divorce deal with the European Union, and ...

Bloomberg It’s open season on central bank chiefs. In the US, President Donald Trump has complained that the Federal Reserve has gone “loco” because its interest rate hikes threaten to snuff out his deficit-swelling, tax cut stimulus. Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio accused his compatriot Mario Draghi of “poisoning the atmosphere” after the European Central Bank president warned ...