Banking

Bloomberg The new chief executive officer of Piraeus Bank SA is trying to make up for lost time. CEO Christos Megalou must offload 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) in bad loans by the end of the year under a restructuring plan worked out with the European Central Bank’s supervisory arm months before he took over at the largest Greek lender. ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. exercised an option to buy the rest of Golden Capital Management, an ‘active quant’ investment firm that helps oversee $10 billion. The bank, which built up a 65 percent stake in Golden in 2011, said in a statement that it finished purchasing the rest at the start of this month. It didn’t disclose the terms. ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Following a period of economic uncertainty, Europe’s recovery has gathered speed over the last year and the outlook has improved considerably. In its recent edition of EMEA Perspectives, J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s Gabriele Zaninetti analyses the current investment landscape in Europe and shares his views on why Europe offers a rich source of attractive investment opportunities. ...

Bloomberg As global bonds reel under hawkish rhetoric by major central bankers, AllianceBernstein and Amundi Asset Management say emerging-market currencies will weather the storm better than 2013. Improvements in external balances, higher reserves and subdued inflation are among factors making developing-nation economies from India to Mexico appear less vulnerable to the risk of outflows when their advanced peers begin to ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc has instructed about 6,000 employees of its global markets division to cease buying single-name securities on their personal accounts, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Purchases of single-name stocks, bonds and concentrated exchange-traded funds will be prohibited, Global Head of Markets Thibaut de Roux told staff in an email, said the people, who asked ...

Bloomberg The onshore yuan rose for the sixth day in a row, the longest run of gains since 2015, boosted by a stronger central bank fixing and data showing China’s economy held up in the second quarter. The yuan gained 0.05 percent to 6.7704 per dollar as of 5:14 p.m. in Shanghai, extending its six-day advance to 0.5 percent. This ...

Bloomberg Four former Barclays Plc executives will stand trial in January 2019 on allegations they conspired to commit fraud over the bank’s 2008 fundraising with Qatar, a London judge said. The trial date was set at a hearing on Monday where former Chief Executive Officer John Varley, Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath all appeared at Southwark Crown Court. ...

Bloomberg BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, said it is preparing to start a private fund in China after the nation opened the market wider to global players. The firm plans to set up a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) first for its private fund business in the nation, according to Chen Ting, general manager at BlackRock Overseas Investment Fund ...

Bloomberg It was the elephant in the room throughout Europe’s debt crisis, but ultimately too sensitive an issue for supervisors to fiddle with. Regulations have historically implied that government bonds are risk-free. But Greece’s near-death experience quickly made a mockery of that assertion. Now, Sweden is taking the next step and banks in the country are starting to assign risk ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping said the central bank will play a stronger role in defending against risks, calling for more work on safeguarding the financial system and modernizing its regulatory framework. China will set up a Financial Stability Development Committee under the State Council, Xi said at a twice-a-decade National Financial Work Conference held July 14-15, state media reported ...