Bloomberg History suggests otherwise, but Morgan Stanley says Turkey’s peer-beating banks have room to rally further. Analysts including Samuel Goodacre increased share price targets for four of Turkey’s biggest lenders by an average 15 percent, saying a government credit guarantee facility will continue to underpin their earnings. Istanbul’s banks index is climbing even as the country’s borrowing costs rise to ...
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HSBC hires Goldman veterans for Asia equities
Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc has hired three executives from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as it seeks to bolster its equities business in the Asia-Pacific region, people familiar with the matter said. Michael Chandler, formerly Goldman Sachs’s co-head of Asia-Pacific research sales, has joined HSBC as head of equity sales for the region, the people said, asking not to be named ...
Read More »PBOC chief Zhou’s proteges poised to take reform baton
Bloomberg As the retirement of People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan nears, his legacy of financial reform may yet live on through the advancing careers of people he’s helped guide to prominence. The latest examples of that phenomenon are five officials, associated with Zhou and seen as like-minded reformers, who were promoted since 2015 to key posts at the ...
Read More »Egypt’s central bank holds interest rates
Reuters Egypt’s central bank is seen leaving key interest rates unchanged this month, a Reuters poll indicated, after it raised them by 200 basis points last month for the second time as inflation soared. Egypt has raised key interest rates by 7 percentage points since it floated the pound in November as part of a $12 billion International Monetary Fund ...
Read More »Guptas to tell Bank of Baroda they’ve found alternative
Bloomberg The Gupta family, whose accounts are being closed down by the Bank of Baroda’s South African unit, have told the Indian lender that they’ve found another company willing to offer them banking services, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Bank of Baroda, which took on the Guptas after South Africa’s four biggest lenders closed their accounts, ...
Read More »Euro-pound parity call chimes as Morgan Stanley joins HSBC
Bloomberg What once seemed a highly unlikely call on euro-sterling is gaining momentum, with two of the world’s leading banks predicting that Europe’s shared currency will attain and even go beyond parity with the pound for the first time. Morgan Stanley sees the pair at 1.02 by the end of March, which represents a 12 percent gain for the euro ...
Read More »Standard Bank seeks to raise $3 billion for Ugandan oil pipeline
Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s Ugandan unit plans to raise $3 billion for a crude pipeline by the second half of next year as the East African country prepares to start oil production by 2020. Stanbic Bank Uganda was appointed alongside Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as joint financial adviser for the 1,445-kilometre pipeline, Patrick Mweheire, the chief executive officer ...
Read More »SA court scraps bid to alter central bank role
Bloomberg South Africa’s High Court scrapped a bid by the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman to change the central bank’s inflation-targeting mandate. The Public Protector’s instruction that lawmakers should start a process to change the constitution and amend the Reserve Bank’s mandate is set aside, Judge Cynthia Pretorius said in a ruling. The judgment removes the risk of politicians interfering in the ...
Read More »HK likely to raise banks’ interest rates
Bloomberg Hong Kong’s attempt to force bank interest rates higher—seen by some as a bid to arrest losses in the local currency—has been given a big fat zero by the markets. Plans to sap liquidity by boosting debt sales triggered an about-turn in the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, spurring speculation over the fate of one of the world’s surest ...
Read More »Money-laundering scandal hurts all banks, says lobby chief Bligh
Bloomberg The Commonwealth Bank of Australia money-laundering scandal has damaged public’s perception of the whole banking sector, according to the head of the industry’s lobby group. “The issue that Australian banks are suffering with is community trust and public reputation,†Australian Bankers’ Association Chief Executive Officer Anna Bligh said in an interview. “The events of the past week, 10 days, ...
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