Banking

Bloomberg For months, global regulators have been scrambling to get a grip on cryptocurrencies. Yet, even as they debate potential action, a key question looms: What exactly are these things? Now, a consensus appears to be forming around how to define these new instruments. In a speech at the annual general meeting of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, ...

Bloomberg The speed of the instant payment highway has regulators in Norway thinking about the guardrails. The central bank is stepping up efforts to improve the country’s banking infrastructure as the spreading use of instant payments drives credit risk higher at banks. The problem lies in the fact that customers get their money before it’s actually transferred to their banks. ...

Bloomberg Investors have seen the peak of the US 10-year Treasury yield this year as brewing trade tensions and a stronger dollar curb its advance, according to Morgan Stanley. “3.12 percent was it,” Morgan Stanley global head of interest-rate strategy Matthew Hornbach wrote in a note to clients. “We suggest investors buy 10-year Treasury notes outright,” he said, with the ...

Bloomberg The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s new Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn has embarked on a massive overhaul of the scandal-plagued lender, announcing plans to spin off its wealth management and mortgage-broking businesses. The asset management, wealth advisory and Aussie Home Loans units will be placed into a new company known as CFS Group to be listed on the Australian ...

Bloomberg When China allowed banks to use 700 billion yuan ($108 billion) more of their deposits, they were very clear on where the money should go. One sector not mentioned was the overheating property market. Money freed up from previous cuts may have ended up flowing into the housing market, and the design of this new policy seems aimed at ...

Bloomberg Central banks should accept that reversing crisis-era monetary policy will be “bumpy” and shouldn’t delay doing so just for fear of upsetting financial markets, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Claudio Borio, who heads the institution’s economics department, urged policy makers to press ahead, both to address financial stability risks and to insulate their economies against the next ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley are imploring investors not to get spooked. The investment banks had the two lowest capital levels by one key measure in stress test results released by the Federal Reserve, threatening to limit how much cash they’ll be able to return to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. But both firms say they ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to sell its stake in Saudi Investment Bank back to the Riyadh-based lender at a 24 percent discount as it exits non-core holdings globally. Saudi Investment Bank signed an agreement to buy the 7.5 percent stake, which JPMorgan held for more than 40 years, for $203 million, according to a statement on Sunday. The ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank is expecting to plow at least 160 billion euros ($185 billion) of maturing debt back into bonds next year and could consider relaxing the rules on buying, according to euro-area officials familiar with the matter. Such prospects would reduce the risk of market volatility that could undermine the economy after the ECB completes net asset ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank will cut the amount of cash some lenders must hold as reserves, unlocking about 700 billion yuan ($108 billion) of liquidity, as it seeks to control leverage and support smaller companies. The required reserve ratio for some banks will drop by 0.5 percentage point, effective July 5, the People’s Bank of China said on its website. ...