Banking

Bloomberg Canadian banks have amassed their biggest war chest in five years — and they’re ready to use it. The country’s six largest lenders are approaching their strongest capital position since 2013, leaving them with enough resources to pursue acquisitions, buy back shares or build from within. That has the chiefs of Canada’s big banks weighing options. “It’s great to ...

TOKYO / Reuters The Bank of Japan mostly held an optimistic view on regional economies, in a sign of its conviction over a broadening recovery but warned that labour shortages and a US-China trade war could cloud the outlook. The central bank’s assessment in a report suggests it will probably maintain its upbeat growth and price forecasts when it conducts ...

WASHINGTON / Reuters US bank regulators proposed easing a key capital rule designed to restrict bank leverage, a move that would free up $400 million of capital across the largest US banks. The proposal from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would reduce the “enhanced supplementary leverage ratio” (eSLR) and more closely tie the ...

LONDON / Reuters The Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) and the China Banking Association (CBA) have joined forces to challenge proposed European Union regulations aimed at policing possible market risk posed by foreign lenders doing business in the bloc. In a letter to the European Commission seen by Reuters, the JBA and CBA — which represent hundreds of lenders from both ...

FRANKFURT / Reuters Once one of Germany’s chief power brokers in finance, Deutsche Bank Chairman Paul Achleitner’s switch of chief executive has triggered criticism that it was rushed through, casting a cloud over his own future. Achleitner forced out CEO John Cryan after a row that centred on what some describe as Cryan’s ‘indecisiveness’ in cutting jobs and costs, according ...

LONDON / Reuters Tougher rules introduced after the financial crisis have made it harder for banks to support the economy, a European banking lobby said in a study they hope will stem the flow of new regulation. Banks have been forced to hold far more capital since many of them were bailed out by taxpayers during the 2007-09 financial crisis. ...

Bloomberg India’s state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) is conducting an internal investigation into an alleged $2 billion fraud and more heads could roll, its chief executive said in an interview. The country’s second-biggest state lender disclosed in February that companies owned by two jewellers defrauded it by raising credit from overseas branches of other Indian banks, using illegal guarantees issued ...

SEOUL / Reuters South Korea’s central bank held interest rates steady, with Governor Lee Ju-yeol taking a cautious stance in the face of high household debt, weak inflation and tightrope-tense trade relations between the United States and China. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy committee held its base rate steady at 1.50 percent, in line with forecasts from 18 analysts ...

DUBLIN / Reuters Ireland’s central bank raised its forecast for economic growth as domestic activity strengthened and international demand improved, but it said the economy was vulnerable to post-Brexit trade restrictions and changes in European Union tax rules. Ireland’s economy has been the best performing in Europe since 2014 and the central bank sees that momentum continuing, with gross domestic ...

KIEV / Reuters Ukraine’s central bank left its main interest rate at 17 percent, as expected, but warned that an improving outlook for inflation could be undermined if the International Monetary Fund delays in disbursing loans. Over the past six months, the bank has kept monetary policy tight to curb stubbornly high inflation linked to higher food and oil prices ...