Banking

Bloomberg European bonds slipped on the first day of 2018 trading, led by longer-dated securities after European Central Bank policy maker Benoit Coeure said its current extension of stimulus may be the last. German 30-year bunds led the drop in the euro-area’s debt, followed by the Netherlands and France, while UK gilts also slid. Coeure said that given the region’s ...

Bloomberg While volatility in many financial markets has been rising over recent weeks, one notoriously unpredictable currency has been dead in the water. The trading range for Indonesia’s rupiah shrank to the least in two decades last year and volatility all but vanished as the central bank made maintaining the currency’s stability its chief mission. All this in a year ...

Bloomberg An ex-UBS Group AG trader banned from the finance industry over allegations that he manipulated Libor rates told a London court that his actions were “mandated” and “sanctioned” by the bank. Arif Hussein, a former head of UBS’s sterling rates desk, is challenging a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority to ban him at a London court hearing on ...

Bloomberg For bond investors, Africa was a happy hunting ground last year. Its local-currency and dollar securities easily outperformed those of emerging markets overall as investors piled into a continent offering high yields and starting to recover from the commodity bust of three years ago. But risks abound, among them policy tightening in advanced economies, local and global politics, weakening ...

Bloomberg A provision in the new tax law, intended to prevent American companies from shifting profits abroad to benefit from a lower overseas rate, might also hit the largest foreign banks with significant US operations. Under the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax, commonly called BEAT, payments made by US businesses to related companies abroad must be counted when calculating global ...

Bloomberg The last day of a bitter year for China’s non-bank borrowers proved to be especially painful: they’re now paying a record premium for short-term funds. As interbank lending rates climbed due to banks hoar-ding cash for year-end regulatory checks, the increase was especially significant for non-bank financial institutions, such as securities and insurance companies. A measure of what they’re ...

Bloomberg Egypt selected five banks to manage a Eurobond sale of about $4 billion, the finance minister said, as the nation taps cheaper funding sources to bridge its budget gap. The government selected HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi for the sale scheduled around January, Amr El-Garhy said ...

Bloomberg Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest state-run lender, will be able to avoid massive losses after the government forced delinquent borrowers to repay loans or face liquidation proceedings under a new law. The interest and bids received so far for assets put up for sale by India’s new bankruptcy court indicates that the bank may not have to take “huge ...

Bloomberg German inflation slowed, underscoring the challenge the European Central Bank will face in 2018 as it gradually removes its stimulus program. Consumer prices rose an annual 1.6 percent, the Federal Statistics Office said. Inflation has remained tepid in Germany even as record-low unemployment bolsters private consumption and a recovery in global trade fuels exports and investment. The Bundesbank this ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is withdrawing from an industry pact designed to allow financial advisers to change companies without being sued by for- mer employers, further unrav- eling the accord after Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG said they would pull out. “Similar to others in the industry, Citi has decided to exit the protocol,” company spokesman Drew Benson said in ...