Banking

Bloomberg Thailand’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate near a record low, seeking to preserve policy room despite signs that the economy is heading deeper into deflation again. The one-day bond repurchase rate was left at 1.5 percent, with monetary policy committee members voting unanimously in favor, the Bank of Thailand said in Bangkok. All 21 economists surveyed by ...

Bloomberg Bank failures in Italy and the drawn-out rescue of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA revealed the frayed edges in Europe’s patchwork of rules for dealing with firms in crisis, and fixes are needed to make the system work as intended, according to Elke Koenig, who makes the call on saving or shuttering major euro-area lenders. “Let’s try ...

Bloomberg Investors couldn’t sell Chinese banking giants fast enough this week. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (ABC) and Bank of China Ltd. (BOC) posted their worst weeks since at least June 2016, while China Construction Bank Corp. (CCB) fell for a fifth consecutive week. The lenders were among the biggest decliners on ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) policy makers continued to air their differences over when to rein in stimulus, sending conflicting signals on whether pumping cash into the economy for much longer will help the euro area or hurt it. “Underlying inflationary pressure remains subdued” and “we still need a long period of accommodative policy,” Executive Board member Peter Praet, the ...

Bloomberg For the better part of this century, Deutsche Bank’s trading heart has been beating in London. Now, it’s gradually being transplanted to Frankfurt. Europe’s largest securities firm is preparing to turn Frankfurt into its global booking center, a shift that may entail moving large parts of the trading and investment-banking assets it currently books in London to its hometown, ...

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) will sell its stake in a Chinese securities joint venture to Guolian Securities Co. for 354 million yuan ($52 million), becoming the latest foreign bank to leave its mainland partnership. The Edinburgh-based bank bought the 33.3 percent of Hua Ying Securities Co. for 266.4 million yuan and will sell it at 1.2 times ...

Bloomberg Cerberus Capital Management is weighing a plan to purchase a stake in Commerzbank AG as the U.S. buyout firm seeks to add investments in European lenders, according to people familiar with the matter. Cerberus is considering building a minority stake by buying shares in the German bank on the market, the people said, asking not to be identified because ...

Bloomberg Canadian business leaders reported the strongest outlook since 2011 including record hiring plans, according to a central bank survey. The overall Business Outlook Survey Indicator — an aggregate gauge — measured 2.81, up from 0.73 in the last report, according to the Bank of Canada’s quarterly Business Outlook Survey published in Ottawa. Results for nearly all survey questions were ...

Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. has narrowed the list of bidders for its wealth unit, which could fetch more than A$4 billion ($3 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said. The Melbourne-based bank has invited AIA Group Ltd., MetLife Inc. and Zurich Insurance Group AG to make second-round offers for the business by Sept. 15, according ...

Bloomberg Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA laid out a five-year restructuring plan that includes cutting thousands of jobs and selling assets as part of an agreement with the European Union that lets the bank receive 5.4 billion euros ($6.1 billion) in state aid. The lender plans to reduce headcount by 5,500, close 600 branches and dispose ...