Banking

Bloomberg China’s largest banks posted double-digit increases in lending income in the third quarter, validating some of the earnings optimism that has fueled a rally in their shares this year. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. on Monday reported average net interest income gains of 15 percent. The figures ...

Bloomberg The 6,000 job cuts announced last week at Nordea Bank AB are just a down payment for an industry facing radical overhaul, says Chief Executive Officer Casper von Koskull. “If somebody says, where are we, or where are banks, 10 years from now, banks could easily have half what they have today,” in terms of personnel, von Koskull said ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England may increase interest rates this week for the first time in more than a decade, but that won’t be enough to buoy the pound, according to strategists. Markets almost fully price in a 25-basis-point increase in the BOE’s key rate on Thursday, meaning investors are ill-prepared for a disappointment. Should Governor Mark Carney and fellow ...

Bloomberg China’s ambitious $55 billion infrastructure project that’s underway throughout Pakistan is in danger of becoming a non-event for the South Asian nation’s banks. President Xi Jinping’s multi-billion dollar economic corridor, part of his ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, has been viewed as a game-changer for Pakistan. Yet while local banks are keenly waiting to get their share of the pie, ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti is reviving investors’ expectations for a share buyback after the bank’s capital buffers rebounded and profit increased. The bank’s CET1 capital ratio rose to 13.7 percent in the three months through September, up from 13.5 percent in the second quarter. UBS has pledged to return at least half its net profit ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Boerse AG Chief Executive Officer Carsten Kengeter resigned amid growing shareholder pressure after he became embroiled in an insider-trading probe. The company also said it isn’t likely to meet its full-year earnings targets. The CEO will step down on December 31 “in order to allow the company to focus its energy back onto clients, business and growth and ...

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc signalled it’s in a better position to handle its remaining legacy issues after posting stronger than expected capital ratios in the third quarter. The shares rose. The Edinburgh-based lender’s common equity Tier 1, a measure of financial resilience, jumped to 15.5 percent in the period from 14.8 percent at the end of June, ...

Bloomberg Firms such as Blackstone Group LP, Apollo Global Management LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC are often slapped with the vaguely sinister label, shadow bank, because they provide financing but aren’t regulated like traditional lenders. President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department now says that’s downright unfair and wants global regulators to stop using the term when describing investment giants. “The ...

Bloomberg As markets cheer European Central Bank President Mario Draghi for keeping the exit from monetary stimulus wide open, the decision is sitting uneasily with some of his colleagues. A day after policy makers extended their bond-buying program for a third time and pledged to do yet more if needed, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann went public with his opposition by ...

Bloomberg Not everyone at the Bank of England will be on board with raising interest rates. While November 2 may see the UK’s first rate increase in more than a decade, economists surveyed by Bloomberg say three out of nine officials on the Monetary Policy Committee will vote against the move. That’s based on the median estimate from 24 responses. ...