Banking

Bloomberg Qatari banks, already stretched by financing demands of the $200 billion 2022 World Cup, took a head-on blow from its neighbours’ abrupt decision to cut economic and diplomatic ties. At risk are the foreign deposits-especially from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council-that have helped sustain institutions like Qatar National Bank QPSC, the region’s largest by assets, and Doha Bank QSC. ...

DOHA / Reuters The Qatari currency came under pressure on Tuesday as Gulf commercial banks began to hold off on dealing with Qatari banks because of the diplomatic rift in the region, banking sources said. Some Saudi Arabian, UAE and Bahraini banks were delaying business with Qatari banks, such as letters of credit, after their governments cut diplomatic ties and ...

COLOMBO / Reuters Some Sri Lankan banks stopped buying Qatar Riyal on Tuesday, saying their counterpart banks in Singapore advised them not to accept the currency a day after the Arab world’s biggest powers cut ties with Qatar. Dealers at four local private banks said they have stopped buying Qatar Riyal. “Our counter-party in Singapore has asked us not to ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Israel has a new message for the market: Don’t assume it will follow the US path on interest rates. Investors and economists long speculated that the Bank of Israel, anxious about a strengthening local currency, would keep rates on hold until the US Federal Reserve had raised its lending rate a few times. As the rate ...

Bloomberg Emilio Saracho’s plan to turn around Banco Popular Espanol SA has become a struggle for survival. Just four months after the former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker took charge, the troubled lender is exploring ways to bolster its cash and short-term funds and may request additional central bank loans, a person familiar with the matter has said. Expansion newspaper ...

Bloomberg The World Bank (WB) kept its outlook for the global economy unchanged, forecasting a modest pickup in growth despite uncertainty about monetary policy and the risk of a surge in protectionism. The development lender projects the world economy will grow by 2.7 percent this year and 2.9 percent the next, the same as its January forecast. “Global activity is ...

Bloomberg Ireland’s drive to recoup money from the bank rescue that almost bankrupted the nation is finally gaining pace. The Irish government started the process of selling 25 percent of Allied Irish Banks Plc, (AIB) after spending 21 billion euros ($23.5 billion) bailing out the lender following the 2008 financial crisis. In comments aired on Wednesday, Finance Minister Michael Noonan ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said China has made “huge progress” on market reforms and he would like to increase his firm’s businesses in the nation. The New York-based JPMorgan is hoping to get a corporate bond license in China and would consider another joint venture in Asia’s biggest economy, Dimon said in an interview ...

Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has surprised many with its tolerance for market pain as it squeezes leverage in parts of the financial system. But rest assured, China won’t clamp down so hard it endangers President Xi Jinping’s goal to keep growth above 6.5 per cent, according to economists from Morgan Stanley, Mizuho Securities and Oxford Economics. “Some ...

Bloomberg A month can be a long time in economics. Since the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) last policy decision on May 2, market bets on an interest-rate cut by the end of this year have doubled. While that chance is still only about 20 percent, swaps traders see Australia as one of just two developed economies where cuts are ...