Banking

Oman invites banks to arrange potential dollar bond

  Bloomberg Oman is preparing an international bond sale, two people with knowledge of the deal said, as the country seeks to plug a budget deficit caused by low oil prices. The sultanate has sent invitations to banks to arrange the sale of a dollar or Islamic bond, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is ...

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Lira weakens among major world currencies

  Bloomberg Turkey’s lira weakened the most among major world currencies on Tuesday, falling as much as 1.6 percent to a new record, as the killer of 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub remained at large and inflation accelerated more than estimates in December. The lira depreciated to a record 3.60 against the dollar before trading 1.3 percent lower at ...

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Bank regulators delay key meet on capital rule revamp

  Bloomberg Global banking regulators delayed a key meeting on new capital standards, acknowledging they need more time to strike an agreement after European authorities resisted planned restrictions on how banks measure asset risk. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s oversight board said in a statement on Tuesday that it had postponed a meeting scheduled for January 8 to allow ...

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Loan growth at India’s largest bank jumps from 25-year low

  Bloomberg State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, is predicting an acceleration in loan growth from a 25-year low after slashing borrowing costs to the lowest level in at least six years. The state-run lender cut lending rates based on the marginal costs of funds by 90 basis points across all tenures on Sunday. Other banks including Union ...

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Bank Hapoalim’s credit card unit may fetch $1 billion

  Bloomberg Bank Hapoalim Ltd.’s credit-card unit may be valued at about $1 billion as the lender prepares to divest the business to comply with new Israeli regulations, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Tel Aviv-based bank and smaller rival Leumi Le-Israel Ltd are both meeting with investment banks about the sale of their credit card units, ...

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Masraf Al Rayan to halt brokerage business

  DUBAI / Reuters Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar’s second-largest bank by market capitalisation, said on Monday that it had decided to suspend the activities and licence of its brokerage business, Al Rayan Financial Brokerage Company. After obtaining the necessary approvals from regulatory authorities, the bank said the last date of trading for the company would be Jan. 12. All remaining ...

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New bank regulations aren’t capital control, says PBOC’s Ma

  Bloomberg China’s new regulations on cash transactions and overseas transfers are not capital controls, according to a central bank researcher cited by the official Xinhua News Agency. New requirements published by the People’s Bank of China on Friday stoked concern that the government is imposing capital controls in a disguised form, Xinhua reported. “It is not capital control at ...

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Paschi rescue expected to cost Italy €6.6bn

  Bloomberg Italy’s rescue of troubled lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA will cost the government about 6.6 billion euros ($7 billion), the country’s central bank says, providing the first official estimate of public funding. About 4.6 billion euros are needed to meet capital requirements and 2 billion euros would be required to compensate the lender’s retail bondholders, ...

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Nomura to deepen cost cuts as CEO seeks to keep ship afloat

  Bloomberg The code name chosen for Nomura Holdings Inc.’s latest cost-cutting drive indicates how strongly its chief executive sees the need for savings at Japan’s largest brokerage. After slashing hundreds of overseas jobs since April, CEO Koji Nagai has unveiled his so-called “Waterline Project,” which will attempt to combat waste and improve the cost-effectiveness of the bank’s daily operations ...

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Bonds in India see best year since 2008

  Reuters India’s benchmark sovereign bonds are set to cap their best performance since the global financial crisis amid record debt purchases by banks, the biggest holders of government securities. Lenders gorged on debt this year as the central bank boosted cash availability in the financial system and deposits surged following the government’s recall of high-value currency notes. That, along ...

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