Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s plan to further withdraw support for the US economy will ease pressure on other major central banks to keep up their own ‘aggressive’ monetary stimulus, former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said. “I think with the Federal Reserve seeing limited room for continued accommodation and starting to raise interest rates, I think you ...
Read More »Banking
ANZ sells Shanghai Bank stake for $1.33 billion
Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand Banking Corp. agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Co. for A$1.84 billion ($1.33 billion), Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott’s latest move to unwind an Asian expansion that sapped profits. China Cosco Shipping Corp. and Shanghai Sino-Poland Enterprise Management Development Corp. will buy 10 percent each, the Melbourne-based company ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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, ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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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