Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG, the Swiss lender seeking a banking license in Saudi Arabia, allocated about $600 million of its own capital to expand its business in the kingdom, according to people familiar with the matter. The Zurich-based bank, which has a securities and equities business in the country, plans to use the capital to, among other things, ...
Read More »Banking
Kenyan banks press govt on rate caps as lending slows
Bloomberg Kenyan banks are in talks with the government about changing a law that caps commercial interest rates as lending in East Africa’s biggest economy slows, Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori said. “Those dialogues are underway between the Kenya Bankers Association and members of parliament around what would work,†Awori said Wednesday in an ...
Read More »Barclays’s CEO gets US$1.6 million bonus
Bloomberg Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley received a bonus of 1.3 million pounds ($1.6 million) for his first year in charge after hitting almost two-thirds of his targets, as he reshaped the bank and disposed of unwanted assets. Staley, 60, was awarded 60 percent of his maximum bonus opportunity for the year, giving him a total pay ...
Read More »Lloyds climbs to highest since Brexit
Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc jumped to the highest level since the Brexit vote after it boosted the dividend and said lending margins would hold up amid record-low U.K. interest rates. Shares in Britain’s largest mortgage lender climbed as much as 4.1 percent to their highest price since June 23. Excluding one-time charges, pretax profit rose 2 percent to ...
Read More »Bundesbank mulls exit cost from non-standard ECB policy
Bloomberg The Bundesbank may be about to put a price tag on the European Central Bank’s exit from unconventional stimulus. The German central bank is bracing for losses that may be triggered when the ECB eventually unwinds its bond-buying program and raises interest rates, and President Jens Weidmann has the opportunity to address the matter when he presents his ...
Read More »Citigroup to pay $5.4 million fine to settle rand collusion
Bloomberg / AP Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay a penalty of almost 70 million rand ($5.4 million) to settle a South African antitrust investigation that said it participated in an alleged cartel to manipulate the value of the rand. Citigroup will make witnesses available to help prosecute other banks that participated in price fixing and market allocation in the ...
Read More »KSA gets first female commercial bank CEO
Bloomberg Rania Nashar was named chief executive of Samba Financial Group, becoming the first female CEO of a listed Saudi commercial bank in line with the government’s economic and social reforms. Nashar is a board member of Samba’s global markets subsidiary and a Pakistani unit, and has nearly 20 years of experience in banking. Women, banned from driving in ...
Read More »â€˜ECB can renew free loans to banks’
Bloomberg The European Central Bank could consider renewing its offer of free long-term liquidity to lenders though it shouldn’t turn it into a permanent measure, a Governing Council member said. Targeted longer-term refinancing operations are “a very practical and very helpful instrument; I would be very flexible regarding that instrument in the future,†Bank of Lithuania Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas ...
Read More »Wells Fargo fires managers over account scam
Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. fired the head of its consumer credit-card business and three other senior managers as the bank’s board examines how abusive sales practices spread through branches before spiraling into a national scandal last year. Shelley Freeman, the former Los Angeles regional president who went on to run consumer-credit solutions, was terminated, along with Arizona lead ...
Read More »â€˜Uncertainty, fear may challenge financial markets’
Emirates Business Saxo Bank, the online multi-asset trading and investment specialist, reports on Wednesday the financial markets have started the year strong with a rally in equities leading to a huge rotation of investors moving from bonds to equities which may bring further demand for equities in the coming weeks. However, at a presentation in Dubai, Saxo Bank’s Head ...
Read More »