Banking

  Bloomberg Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) named Senior Managing Executive Officer Akihiro Fukutome as its next president, as the Japanese lender seeks to attract a younger generation of customers and build up businesses in Southeast Asia. The appointment will be effective from April, according to a statement from the core banking unit of Japan’s second-largest lender Sumitomo Mitsui Financial ...

  Bloomberg Norway’s central bank raised borrowing costs to the highest level in more than a decade, and signaled it still plans to hike its key interest rate to 3% at the beginning of next year even as the Nordic country faces a recession. Norges Bank lifted its key deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.75%, the highest level ...

  Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) raised its interest rate by 50 basis points, a third salvo against inflation that narrows the gap with the borrowing costs of global peers. Officials raised the benchmark to 1%, as predicted by a majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Further increases can’t be ruled out, the central bank said. “There is a ...

  Bloomberg China’s central bank pumped more cash than forecast into the banking system in December, in a move that’s expected to bolster bonds roiled by the nation’s abrupt Covid policy shift. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) injected 650 billion yuan ($94 billion) via its one-year medium-term lending facility, more than the 500 billion yuan due this month. Five ...

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc are raising their main lending rates in Hong Kong for the third time this year, a move that signals higher borrowing costs for property owners amid a real estate and economic downturn. HSBC, the city’s biggest lender, is boosting its prime rate by 25 basis points to 5.625%. The move came ...

Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S admitted to fraud and will pay $2 billion to end a long-running US probe into money laundering at its Estonia branch, helping draw a line under the worst scandal in the bank’s recent history. The Danish lender pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and admitted providing banking services to suspicious customers — including in ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) will let staff work remotely for 110 days a year — roughly half their time. The rules, which take effect from January 1, permit as many as 10 days a month away from desks. That’s stricter than the current system, under which employees must show up at the office at least eight days a ...

Bloomberg The Indian rupee’s most appealing trait for traders is fast deteriorating, helping turn the currency into emerging Asia’s worst performer over the past month. Twelve-month implied rupee yields — typically a reflection of interest rate differentials with the US — fell to the lowest since 2009. That’s bad news for carry traders, who seek profits from capturing the difference ...

  Bloomberg Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe called on the nation’s lenders to intensify efforts to reduce the cost of payments and increase their speed, including for cross-border transactions. “Slow progress by the major banks imposes a cost on the rest of the industry,” Lowe said in a speech, referring to delays in launching a direct-debit service ...

  Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc is in talks to invest about $200 million in Akulaku Inc, an Indonesian online lender backed by Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co, according to people familiar with the matter. MUFG, as Japan’s biggest lender is known, is negotiating the terms of a potential financing for Akulaku as it seeks to expand its presence ...