Banking

Bloomberg The world’s central bankers are learning that there’s virtually no room for error as they try to find a way out of a decade of extreme monetary stimulus. That’s the message from Norway’s central bank governor, Oystein Olsen, who also oversees the country’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. “Unexpected things can happen, and the warning, call it a small ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank policy maker Benoit Coeure signalled that officials are close to starting talks on altering their policy language as they prepare for the eventual end of bond purchases. “Our communication on monetary policy will change” Coeure told reporters on in Skopje, Macedonia. “Certainly the expectation is that this will be discussed in early 2018.” The ECB is ...

Bloomberg Fewer than half the world’s biggest banks are doing enough to forestall climate change that poses risks to their markets and economies. Most lenders still aren’t producing firm targets for low-carbon financial products that will aid efforts to keep temperatures from rising, according to a survey of 59 banks conducted by Boston Common Asset Management LLC. Even the strongest ...

Bloomberg One of India’s biggest banks has accused jeweller Nirav Modi — who’s dressed stars including Kate Winslet and Priyanka Chopra — of involvement in a multi-billion dollar fraud that could extend to other lenders, said people familiar with the matter. Punjab National Bank filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation, the federal investigation agency, alleging that Modi ...

Bloomberg Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank Ltd. reported higher fourth-quarter profit even as they added bad-loan provisions in an effort to put the pain of soured credit to energy-services companies behind them. OCBC’s specific net allowances for loans quadrupled year-on-year to S$1.06 billion ($802 million) in the three months ended December, the bank said on Wednesday. Risks from ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse AG’s bonus pool increased at a slower pace in 2017 than a year before, showing that the bank remains cautious about spending as its restructuring continues. Total bonuses for 2017 will rise 3 percent, Adam Gishen, head of investor relations, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg. That’s lower than the 6 percent gain seen the year ...

Bloomberg The US Treasury Department took the severe step of proposing to ban Latvia’s third-biggest bank from the American financial system, saying it helped process illicit transactions, including for entities with alleged ties to North Korea’s ballistic missile program. Financial institutions in the US would be barred from maintaining correspondent accounts for ABLV Bank AS, effectively ending its ability to ...

Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA finished 2017 with an unexpected increase in trading revenue as demand for buying and selling fixed-income securities defied the weak trend seen at most of its rivals. France’s second-largest bank posted a 1 percent revenue gain at its trading business in the fourth quarter, according to a statement on Wednesday. Three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s biggest banks are increasingly locking mortgage rates to lure customers from upstart rivals in the world’s least affordable housing market, where borrowing costs are soon expected to rise. HSBC Holdings Plc and BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. are offering fixed rates of 1.68 percent for the first year of a new mortgage, lower than the 2.15 percent ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay about $4.5 million to settle a US regulator’s allegations that it misled clients about how much bonds backed by commercial mortgages were worth, earning the lender bigger profits than it should have made. Salespeople in its Deutsche Bank Securities unit induced customers to pay higher prices for bonds by misrepresenting how much the ...