Banking

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...