Banking

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues are likely to turn more wary about marching interest rates higher after delivering a widely anticipated quarter percentage-point increase in December. Prospects for slowing global economic growth, fading US fiscal stimulus and volatile financial markets all argue for more caution once officials lift rates next month near or into neutral territory, ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) may need to increase interest rates at a quicker pace than currently envisaged by markets, according to policy maker Michael Saunders. Spare capacity in the economy has been used up, and, assuming Brexit reaches a smooth conclusion, inflationary pressures will probably build somewhat faster than officials predicted in their latest projections, Saunders said in ...

Bloomberg India’s government wants to discuss changes to the Reserve Bank of India’s governance structure at a board meeting next month, including setting up some oversight panels, Economic Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg told ET Now. Garg, who is a government nominee for the RBI board, told another television channel CNBC-TV18 that the administration will ask for more interim dividends from ...

Bloomberg Italy’s central bank warned that low growth and high public debt pose the greatest risks to financial stability, while further sovereign bond market tensions would hurt banks’ capital and the solvency position of insurers. In its Financial Stability Report, the Bank of Italy outlines risks arising from uncertainty about the economic and fiscal policy in the country, which led ...

Bloomberg Nigeria’s base interest rate is becoming more and more irrelevant. That’s the view of some analysts after the Monetary Policy Committee in Africa’s biggest oil producer held its key rate for the 14th straight meeting, despite inflation being above its target range of 6 percent to 9 percent for more than three years. Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele is ...

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 ...