Banking

  Bloomberg A European Union bad bank would go a long way towards reducing the 1.2 trillion-euro ($1.3 trillion) mountain of soured loans on lenders’ books, but that relief may be a long time coming, according to the bloc’s bank regulator. Andrea Enria, chairman of the European Banking Authority (EBA) has proposed setting up a bloc-wide asset-management company to take ...

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is in advanced discussions for a banking license in Saudi Arabia, returning after a more than 10-year absence from the kingdom, as the bank looks for ways to capitalize on financial reforms, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based bank has started sounding out potential staff in expectation that the license application will ...

  Reuters Annual growth in Saudi Arabian bank lending slowed in January to its lowest level in nearly seven years, official data showed, a sign of weak corporate demand but also improving liquidity in the economy. Bank loans to the private sector rose just 1.8 percent from a year earlier, compared to 2.4 percent in December, the central bank said. ...

  Bloomberg India’s weaker economic growth will lead to more soured loans, even after an audit of lenders’ books pushed stressed assets in the South Asian nation to the highest among major economies, according to the head of the country’s largest bank. “There could be a few more accounts that could start showing stress mainly because the kind of growth ...

  Bloomberg The UK’s 50 pound-note is here to stay, at least for now, according to the Bank of England official who signs the nation’s bills. Chief Cashier Victoria Cleland said in an interview that the BOE has no plans to scrap the bill — its largest — and hasn’t ruled out eventually replacing the current paper note with a ...

  Bloomberg Canada’s financial industry is urging the federal government to consider alternatives to proposals that could require them to take on a greater share of mortgage defaults through a deductible — calling it one of the biggest shakeups to hit housing finance in 50 years. “This submission has questioned whether a deductible is the most effective way to rebalance ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) trimmed purchases of shorter-maturity debt in its first bond-buying operation in March, taking advantage of a drop in yields. The central bank offered to buy 320 billion yen ($2.8 billion) of debt due in one-to-three years on Wednesday, down from 400 billion yen for the same maturities in its previous operation on Feb. ...

  Bloomberg Bank of Nova Scotia said fiscal first-quarter profit rose 11 percent, beating analysts’ estimates, on gains in capital markets. The lender raised its quarterly dividend 2.7 percent to 76 cents a share. Net income for the period ended Jan. 31 climbed to C$2.01 billion ($1.52 billion), or C$1.57 a share, from C$1.81 billion, or C$1.43, a year earlier, ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Barclays Africa Group Ltd. is preparing to list its NewGold ETF on the Nairobi Securities Exchange after receiving regulatory approval to begin trading the securities. “We expect the listing to take place early this year,’’ Michael Mgwaba, head of exchange traded products at Johannesburg-based Barclays Africa’s Absa Capital unit, said in an e-mailed response to questions. ...

  Bloomberg A Societe Generale SA executive will have his testimony in a Libyan bribery lawsuit heard in secret because of the risk he may incriminate himself in a U.S. criminal probe. Judge Nigel Teare refused a request by head of sales for global markets Marc El Asmar to escape testifying, according to the banker’s attorneys, who said on Monday ...