Banking

Bloomberg The pace at which the Bank of Japan is expanding its massive hoard of bonds will continue to slow in 2018, according to the majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The central bank will increase its Japanese government bond holdings by about 44 trillion yen ($392 billion) next year, according to the average estimate in the survey. That’s well ...

Bloomberg Three Fed rate hikes, two major European elections and the biggest drop in China’s currency since 2008 would normally make for a busy year for macro traders, leaving them optimistic come bonus time. Not this year. Investors haven’t found much to compel them to step up bets on the directions of interest rates and currencies in 2017, driving sharp ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi stopped short of declaring that the European Central Bank will meet its inflation goal in 2020, signalling that the euro-area economy isn’t yet strong enough to warrant weaning off monetary stimulus. The ECB president unveiled updated economic projections that showed continued gro- wth over the next three years but only slowly improving consumer-price gains. Inflation will average ...

Bloomberg Big euro-area lenders face a choice; clean up the complicated corporate structures that make them difficult to wind down in a crisis, or watch Elke Koenig do it for them. Koenig, head of the Brussels-based Single Resolution Board, said in an interview that streamlining banks’ architecture and ensuring they can fund their own demise without taxpayers’ help will be ...

Bloomberg Bank of England policy makers said the breakthrough in Brexit negotiations this month could prove to be positive for the UK economy, which has lagged behind many of its international peers this year. Having long been criticised for being overly negative on the fallout from Brexit, the lat- est commentary from the central bank noted the recent progress in ...

Bloomberg Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said policy caution and uncertainties around the economic outlook remain prominent in the central bank’s thinking, even as an economy running close to capacity increases the likelihood rates will eventually rise. Poloz used his last speech of the year to highlight three subjects he called “slower-moving, nagging issues” that keep him up at ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG’s head trader for commercial mortgage-backed securities denied claims of trying to influence research reports published by the Swiss bank’s former senior strategist for CMBS products. David McNamara, 49, testified at a trial brought by former CMBS strategist Trevor Murray, who says UBS illegally fired him in February 2012 for blowing the whistle on alleged attempts to ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Russia surprised the market with a cut in its key rate that was double what economists expected, but warned that it’s not shifting into higher gear on easing. A deal between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to maintain oil production cuts until the end of 2018 was a key factor lifting the ...

Bloomberg Spain kicked off the race to lock down the European Central Bank vice presidency after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy confirmed the nation will bid for the post. The Spanish premier said the country is well-placed to present “a female or male” candidate for the role set to become vacant after the current No. 2, Portugal’s Vitor Constancio, retires in ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Spain cut its estimate for economic growth for 2018 and 2019 because of the impact of political uncertainty related to Catalonia’s drive for independence. Growth is set to slow to 2.4 percent next year from a previous estimate of 2.5 percent in September before the secession crisis erupted. The economy will grow 2.1 percent in 2019 ...