Banking

Bloomberg The South African Reserve Bank’s fight against its detractors escalated this week, and now even has President Jacob Zuma in its sights. The central bank in court papers accused Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane of bias and being part of a campaign to undermine its independence after documents showed the anti-graft ombudsman held a secret meeting with Zuma’s lawyers before ...

Bloomberg Kenyan lenders risk needing to raise expensive debt on local markets next year to shore up their core capital levels, which may be eroded by new accounting standards the country is introducing that compel banks to classify losses differently. That’ll be a double whammy for an industry already reeling from the effects of interest-rate caps introduced a year ago, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...