Banking

Summer of bitcoin ending badly as China clamps down on trading

Bloomberg Bitcoin’s meteoric summertime surge risks coming to a painful end as Chinese policy makers move to restrict trading amid growing warnings of a market bubble. The biggest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 40% since reaching a record high of $4,921 on 1 September, cutting about $20 billion in market value. The collapse extended to as much as 30% this ...

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Forex reserves in India top $400bn for the first time

Bloomberg India’s foreign-exchange reserves rose past $400 billion for the first time ever, strengthening policy makers’ buffers ahead of an expected reduction in US stimulus. The stockpile stood at $400.7 billion on September 8, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a release. With the Federal Reserve set to shrink its balance sheet—details of which could be announced next ...

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Pound surges to a post-Brexit high

Bloomberg The pound climbed to the highest level against the dollar since just after Brexit vote and UK government bonds tumbled. Sterling surged past $1.36 after Vlieghe, considered a dovish voter, turned hawkish to tell a conference that the moment was approaching for a rate hike. The premium to hold call options on the pound relative to puts rose to ...

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Bank of Russia clings to caution but stops short of hawkish bias

Bloomberg Governor Elvira Nabiullina really means it when she says the Bank of Russia will follow no predetermined course on rates. Its outlook will allow for pauses as well as cuts of 25 to 50 basis points, depending on forecasts and the situation with inflation and the economy, Nabiullina told reporters in Moscow. The governor spoke after the central bank ...

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Rate hike may be needed soon: BOE’s Vlieghe

Bloomberg Bank of England (BOE) policy maker Gertjan Vlieghe, regarded as one of the more dovish members of Monetary Policy Committee, said that he may support raising interest rates in the near future. The pound extended its advance as he put himself among the majority of MPC members who this week said an increase in borrowing costs could be needed ...

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ECB bond reinvestments could be shock absorber as QE decelerates

Bloomberg As the European Central Bank prepares to slow its bond-buying program, policy makers are considering softening the blow by highlighting a related measure — the reinvestment of maturing debt. An average of 15 billion euros ($18 billion) a month of assets held under quantitative easing will mature next year, according to euro-area central bank officials who said the figure ...

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UBS’ Orcel sees rocky 2018 for banks’ profit as MiFID kicks in

Bloomberg UBS Group AG sees bank profits under pressure as European regulations force lenders to charge for research, breaking apart a decades-old business model that’s prompted a race to provide the cheapest offering. “It will be challenging and it will be rocky” Andrea Orcel, head of UBS’s investment bank, said of the impact of the MiFID II directive in a ...

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MUFG picks Amsterdam for EU base after Brexit

Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s biggest bank, has chosen Amsterdam as a base for its investment-banking business in the European Union after the UK leaves the bloc. The firm’s securities unit has decided to apply for a license to establish a subsidiary in the Dutch city, it said in a statement on Wednesday. MUFG also plans to set ...

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Deutsche Bank pledges cap on ‘German deposits’

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG has pledged to cap the amount of retail deposits it will use to support US activities as it seeks permission from European regulators to deploy German savers’ funds to other parts of the business, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The commitment is an attempt to reassure both the European Central Bank and German ...

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Ex-Citi chief says 30% of bank jobs at risk from technology

Bloomberg Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc. during the financial crisis, said developments in technology could see some 30 percent of banking jobs disappearing in the next five years. Artificial intelligence and robotics reduce the need for staff in roles such as back-office functions, Pandit, 60, said. He’s now chief executive officer of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he ...

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