Banking

Bloomberg Ghana’s central bank is lining up investors for lenders willing to combine their operations in an unprecedented push to force consolidation and strengthen the industry, according to people familiar with the matter. Investors from local pension funds to foreign private-equity firms are on standby to pump cash into the system as lenders scurry to bolster their capital levels, according ...

Bloomberg As China’s crackdown on shadow banking shrinks smaller banks’ valuations relative to larger peers, the outlook is dimming for the country’s regional lenders queuing up to list their shares. Small bank shares have been slipping relative to China’s lending giants like Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. due to their deeper involvement ...

Bloomberg Vietnam Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank expects its market capitalisation to rise to $1 billion after its planned listing on the country’s benchmark bourse during the second half of the year, according to Chairman Trinh Van Tuan. The 22-year-old bank, also known as OCB, plans to list 750 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange late ...

Bloomberg Northern Europe’s claim for a turn at leading euro-area monetary policy in the era after Mario Draghi advanced over the weekend as two of its contenders dropped hints that they’re waiting to be asked. The signals from Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann and outgoing Finnish Governor Erkki Liikanen are the most explicit so far in the race to succeed the ...

Bloomberg Mark Carney may be wondering at times if less is more when he speaks to financial markets. After a bruising month that’s seen his own signals on interest rates questioned and one of his deputies forced to apologize for calling the economy menopausal, communication is once again a hot topic for the Bank of England governor. Carney, who arrived ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is seeking to grow its market share for a type of derivative that’s gaining favour among investors as a way to wager on corporate debt. The Swiss bank is ramping up its market-making operations for so-called total-return swaps tied to US bond and loan indexes, according to people familiar with the matter. The lender hired ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve is facing calls within its ranks to consider activating an obscure capital buffer meant to bolster big banks against coming storms when economic conditions are sunny. But for now, those pushing to weigh the demand for billions of dollars in new capital haven’t persuaded the key agency staffers who are reviewing the decision, according to people ...

Bloomberg Clients looking for investment advice at the biggest Nordic bank have recently been introduced to a robot. Nora, the robo-adviser that Nordea Bank AB launched last month, has already been asked to start investment processes equivalent to 4 percent of the roughly 500,000 people who get savings advice from the bank each year. Nordea wants to use Nora to ...

Bloomberg Jens Weidmann signalled he’s open to succeeding Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank chief’s strongest hint so far that he wants the job. “I believe that every member of the Governing Council should have the willingness to contribute to monetary policy also in a different role,” the German told Funke Mediengruppe in an interview. ...

Bloomberg Lloyd Blankfein will probably step down as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive officer in December, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the firm’s plans. David M. Solomon, who was named president in March, will take the top spot, the newspaper said. While Blankfein is likely to depart around the time of the bank’s annual dinner ...