Banking

  Bloomberg The head of Bank of Montreal says Canada’s biggest financial institutions are actively grooming women to become chief executive officers, ending centuries of male rule at the country’s top lenders. “There are five large Canadian banks,” CEO Bill Downe said in an interview. “I think it’s inevitable.” Canada’s biggest banks have never had a female CEO, reflecting the ...

  Bloomberg China’s central bank has ordered the nation’s lenders to strictly control new loans in the first quarter of the year, people familiar with the matter said, in another move to curb excess leverage in the financial system. The new guidance from the People’s Bank of China puts a particular emphasis on mortgage lending, the people said, as authorities ...

  Bloomberg Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s fund-management arm expects rising inflows to boost assets to about 400 billion euros ($430 billion) as it expands its institutional client base, adds commercial offers and widens its distribution network. Eurizon Capital SGR SpA plans to expand its European staff by about 3 percent this year from the current 550 employees, partly by hiring teams ...

  Bloomberg Italy’s 20 billion-euro ($21.4 billion) government rescue fund is sufficient to recapitalize the country’s troubled banks, and about a third of money will be used for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, Bank of Italy governor Ignazio Visco said. “This measure is an important one for Italy as it emerges from the crisis that buffeted its economy ...

  Bloomberg A talent war between Jefferies Group LLC and Credit Suisse Group AG is threatening to escalate. Five Credit Suisse bankers who reneged on agreements to join Jefferies this month may face demands that they pay more than $10 million to their scorned suitor, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The bankers signed contracts with Jefferies ...

  Bloomberg German officials and lawmakers are concerned the state rescue of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is stretching the credibility of the European Union’s new regime for too-big-to-fail banks. Wolfgang Schaeuble’s Finance Ministry remains skeptical about Italy’s plan to protect individual investors and would prefer them to seek individual compensation through the courts rather than en masse ...

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG suffered a net 15.2 billion francs ($15.2 billion) in withdrawals during the final three months of last year, in part because investors moved money out of Switzerland before the government shares their data with tax authorities, a trend that’s expected to continue this year. The bank fell as much as 3.9 percent in Zurich trading, ...

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc has settled on Dublin for its main hub inside the European Union after Brexit and is planning to add about 150 staff there if UK-based finance companies lose easy access to the trading bloc, according to people with knowledge of the decision. The bank started scouting the city for office space this month and has been ...

  Emirates Business Arab Bank Group announced its 2016 results reporting a growth of 20% in net profits. Net operating income before provisions and taxes exceeded US$1.1 billion, whilst the Group’s net profit after tax reached $533 million for the year 2016 as compared to US $ 442 million for 2015. Excluding the effect of foreign currency devaluations, the Bank ...

Bloomberg After years of lagging behind London on spawning financial technology startups, Paris this week hosted a show of force aimed at proving the French capital can catch up as more than 1,500 bankers, investors and entrepreneurs gathered. The Paris Fintech Forum, which took place in the old bourse’s temple-like building, tripled its turnout from last year. With the UK’s ...