Banking

Barclays investment bank boss vows to restore ‘commercial zeal’

Bloomberg Barclays Plc’s investment-banking boss, Tim Throsby, says he plans to reignite “commercial zeal” within the firm’s worst-performing unit, ending five years of risk-averse retrenchment that’s left traders trailing U.S. rivals. When he arrived at Barclays from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in January, Throsby found it was “very clear” staff had lost “a suitable focus on opportunities to deploy risk,” ...

Read More »

SBM eyes Kenyan banks, plans Nigerian expansion

Bloomberg SBM Holdings Ltd., Mauritius’s second-largest lender, plans more acquisitions in Kenya as it seeks to become one of the country’s top 10 banks within the next three years before expanding into West Africa. The bank, which obtained a license to begin operating SBM Kenya Ltd. in May, expects to have its systems and staff in place by December, Advisor ...

Read More »

Banca Generali, Saxo Bank to offer online trading

Emirates Business Banca Generali and Saxo Bank announce they have reached an agreement to establish an exclusive partnership to offer online trading and digital services. The objective is to offer clients, on an exclusive basis for the Italian market, access to an innovative platform for advanced trading, based on Saxo Bank’s technology and managed by a newly established SIM owned ...

Read More »

As synthetic CDOs roar back, this Citi trader makes her name

Bloomberg Jia Chen was in London again this summer—just one of the many trips she’s recently made across the Atlantic—to peddle a product left for dead in the ruins of the financial crisis. The 35-year-old Citigroup Inc. director has spent the past two years meeting clients, speaking at industry panels and becoming the face of a resurgent market for synthetic ...

Read More »

World’s biggest wealth fund faces tighter reins at $1 trillion

Bloomberg After hitting the $1 trillion milestone this month, the Norwegian wealth fund can expect even more scrutiny going forward. The government is currently looking at a proposal from a committee led by a former central bank governor to separate out the fund from Norges Bank. This idea is now being seized on as a means to tighten oversight, with ...

Read More »

Euro hits one-month low

Bloomberg The euro dropped toward $1.1800 as investors continued to unwind long positions, with fresh tactical selling pressure setting in ahead of a speech by the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later on Tuesday. What started off as a knee-jerk reaction after the German election now appears to have become a broader hit on euro bulls’ conviction. Concern that European ...

Read More »

ECB to start stress tests at Greek banks

Bloomberg The Bank of Greece plans to start stress tests for the country’s four systemic banks in late February with a view to determine by June if they need fresh capital before the end of the Greek bailout program. ECB President Mario Draghi said Single Supervisory Mechanism may front-load stress tests for Greek banks. Banks have been asked to send ...

Read More »

Saudi central bank plans to cut mortgage costs

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s central bank has scrapped administrative fees for mortgage holders if they switch between fixed and floating rate loans, as part of new measures to boost the housing market. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority also announced, via its twitter account, other measures to help reduce mortgage costs, including allowing a mortgage holder to move to a ...

Read More »

Singapore cryptocurrency firms facing bank account closures

Bloomberg Singapore banks have closed accounts of several companies which specialize in providing cryptocurrency and payments services, according to two local bodies which represent financial-technology firms. Noting that cryptocurrency firms have had similar problems with their banks in other countries, the head of Singapore’s Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association, or Access, asked the government to step in. “From our analysis, ...

Read More »

BOE seeks Brexit deal to save £20 trillion derivative pacts

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) said an agreement is needed as part of the Brexit process to protect the ‘long-term validity’ of 20 trillion pounds ($27.1 trillion) of existing derivative contracts. The BOE’s Financial Policy Committee said on Monday that after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, it will be ‘complex and difficult’ for financial firms themselves to ...

Read More »
Send this to a friend