Banking

China verbally props up yuan as trade, growth fears spike

Bloomberg Two top Chinese central bank officials vowed to keep the yuan stable on Tuesday, stoking speculation that policy makers are prepared to take tougher actions to arrest the plunge in the currency. Using standard language to describe the stance on the currency, People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang said China will “keep the yuan exchange rate basically stable ...

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S African central bank seeks Capitec fee probe

Bloomberg The South African Reserve Bank has written to the National Credit Regulator requesting a probe into loan- origination fees charged by Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter. The referral came after the issue was raised in a report by short-seller Viceroy Research in January, said the person, asking not to be identified because ...

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SocGen buys Commerzbank markets unit

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA is acquiring the Commerzbank AG business that includes the German lender’s exchange-traded products and market-making operations as it seeks expansion in Europe’s largest economy. The French bank will take over investments products, flow products and asset management businesses based in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Zurich, according to an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. While it ...

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Challenges mount in Philippine central bank chief’s 2nd year

Bloomberg Philippine central bank Governor Nestor Espenilla faces mounting challenges as he begins his second year in office. The 59-year-old central banker is set to miss his inflation target, the peso is wallowing near a 12-year low, and he is facing criticism he took too long to raise interest rates. He ends the first year of his six-year term in ...

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US banks weak after worst reversal in 3 years

Bloomberg US financials are still nursing their June hangover. The Financial Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund is trading to the downside yet again in early trading, weighed down by Citigroup and Bank of America. The drop follows the KBW Bank Index’s dramatic day that delivered the biggest intraday reversal — from up as much as 2.1 percent to ending in ...

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Australia holds rate as currency drop offers export support

Bloomberg Australia left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low on Tuesday as the currency’s recent decline aids the economy by offering exporters some insulation against global trade ructions. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe kept the cash rate at 1.5 percent, as expected by all economists and where it’s stood since August 2016. The Australian dollar this week ...

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Europe banks exploit loophole in key rule to cut $145bn in trades

Bloomberg Some of Europe’s biggest banks may have found a perfectly legal way to exploit a weakness in one of the finance industry’s most loathed rules. Euro-area and Swiss lenders cut their short-term borrowings by tens of billions of dollars just before the end of each quarter, improving their reported financial health, only to build them up again in the ...

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Indonesia favours rupiah stability above growth in rate move

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank is showing its willingness to sacrifice economic growth for currency stability in its latest aggressive move on interest rates. Bank Indonesia surprised economists with a bigger-than-forecast 50 basis-point hike, on top of two rate increases in May aimed at halting a currency rout. That takes the benchmark rate to 5.25 percent, with analysts betting there’s more ...

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Deutsche Bank targets Indian market

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG, which is in the throes of a global restructuring involving thousands of job cuts, is zeroing in on an Asian market where an unprecedented bad-loan clean-up offers the potential for a credit bonanza. In India, where bankruptcy law changes have injected urgency into efforts to restructure $210 billion of stressed assets, Deutsche Bank sees an opportunity ...

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UniCredit to sell $3.5bn of loans in cleanup

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is selling at least 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of non-performing loans in different deals, while extending a partnership to manage troubled corporate debt as part of its cleanup strategy, according to people with knowledge of matter. The Italian bank is reviewing final offers for 700 million euros of unsecured loans in a disposal project dubbed Narciso ...

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