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, ...
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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, ...
Read More »Danske tells biggest clients it doesn’t want all their deposits
Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S is telling corporate clients to think hard about what to do with their excess cash before December 31, because Denmark’s biggest lender doesn’t want it. After a world-record-setting half decade of negative interest rates, Denmark still has a few surprises up its sleeve that show how such a monetary regime works in practice. Though corporate clients ...
Read More »Japanese bank plans Saudi hires to tap $350 billion privatisation
Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is looking to hire in Saudi Arabia as the lender seeks to benefit from privatisations valued at more than $350 billion over the next five years. “We are planning to start expansion in Saudi Arabia by hiring 20 people,†Elyas Algaseer, the bank’s co-head in the Middle East and North Africa, said in an ...
Read More »Gold seen jumping to $1,400 at Russian bank amid tension
Bloomberg Gold prices are set to jump to a four-year high of $1,400 an ounce by the end of the year over mounting tensions between North Korea and the US, and surging demand in the world’s biggest consumers, according to the head of precious metals at a Russian investment bank. Bullion could rise to $1,360 within three months before climbing ...
Read More »Ghana Commercial Bank takes over lenders
Bloomberg Ghana’s central bank approved a deal that will see Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd. take over the deposits and selected assets of UT Bank Ltd. and Capital Bank Ltd. after the two lenders failed to meet capital requirements. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will sell the rest of the assets to settle liabilities, Raymond Amanfu, head of banking supervision at Bank of Ghana, ...
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