Banking

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is trying to work out a key question about the road to policy normalization: what’s the speed limit? Three weeks before their next policy decision, the terms of debate between the ECB’s 25 Governing Council members over announcing and implementing an exit from unconventional stimulus have coalesced around the pace. In one camp are ...

Bloomberg Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) apparent tolerance of rupee gains is burnishing the appeal of Asia’s best carry-trade currency. RBI governor Urjit Patel already surprised analysts by raising a key interest rate last month, and now there’s little indication that officials are intervening heavily to slow currency gains—unlike some Asian counterparts. That’s all spurred Aviva investors to add to ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte ceased being the biggest shareholder in UBS Group AG after cutting its ownership by almost half, saying it was “disappointed” that it lost money during nearly a decade in which it was invested in the Swiss bank. GIC sold a stake of about 2.4 percent at 16.10 francs ($16.20) a share, according to ...

Reuters Islamic banks have continued to expand their balance sheets and capital buffers, but the era of double-digit growth rates could be coming to an end while asset quality concerns creep up, an industry oversight body said on Tuesday. Islamic finance, which has its core markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, follows religious principles that forbid interest and ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s central bank wants to track a different consumer-price gauge and introduce a tolerance band in a move that will give policy makers more leeway to unwind stimulus after half a decade of below-target inflation. The world’s oldest central bank wants to start targeting an index called CPIF, which factors out changes to mortgage costs, instead of the headline ...

Bloomberg The Indian central bank’s proposal to introduce a new liquidity tool to help manage a banking system flooded with surplus cash is facing opposition from the government, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The government is concerned that the so-called Standing Deposit Facility, or SDF, will give the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the discretion to set ...

Bloomberg Earnings reports by Japan’s three megabanks on Monday pointed to a fourth straight fall in combined annual profit, even as the impact of negative interest rates begins to ease. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. forecast a 4.8 percent drop in combined net income to 2.13 trillion yen ($18.8 billion) ...

Bloomberg The UK Serious Fraud Office has a ‘pending’ probe into a dispute between Societe Generale SA and the Libyan Investment Authority over bribery allegations, after the bank agreed to pay 963 million euros ($1.05 billion) to resolve a related civil trial this month. A lawyer for the LIA said at a London court hearing Monday that the SFO, which ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay about 125 million euros ($137 million) for an office building under construction in Dublin, according to a person with knowledge of the plan. The person asked not to be identified because the price hasn’t been been announced publicly. The bank’s Irish unit is buying the 200 Capital Dock building from real estate ...

Bloomberg Barclays Africa Group Ltd., the South African bank with operations across 12 countries on the continent, is the lead bidder for Mozambique’s Moza Banco SA, according to people familiar with the matter. The central bank has received three proposals, which will be reviewed by an independent panel before the winner is announced in July, one of the people said, ...